The Time Guardian
by Cecilia Orechio
Summary: A new girl mysteriously appears at Hogwarts during the Marauders' school years. Her journey to self-discovery leads her to uncover the truth about an unknown time guardian that will help her set everything right...in time.
1. The Beginning

Author's note: Sorry I know some of you have just started reading this but since I decided to go back and finish this fan fic, I made some major changes, so I figured I should edit for you. I own nothing except for the characters ES, DL CG, and MG, the story title, and the concept behind this story.

**The Time Guardian**

Chapter 1 The Beginning…

Remus Lupin was glad to be heading back to the Gryffindor common room. The dusty rooms and furniture of the Shrieking Shack offered no consolation during his lycanthropy transformations. And students were forbidden to leave the castle due to the recent emergence of a new evil power who called himself Lord Voldemort. His faithful followers, Death Eaters, had begun attacking both the wizard and Muggle communities, creating fear in every witch and wizard in Britain. Usually Remus' friends, James, Sirius, and Peter would conveniently disregard all Hogwarts' rules, but at his vehement insistence, they reluctantly agreed to stay behind during his transformation.

Remus walked quickly down the corridor, not caring to be found by Filch or Mrs. Norris. He didn't notice the blur coming toward him until it had already knocked him over and practically fallen on top of him. Remus looked up to see who or what had run into him. Caught off guard, he gasped as he saw a young girl shaking severely from what he thought was being wet. She was soaked from the thunderstorms raging outside.

"Are you okay?" Remus looked on with concern.

"Big, black dog," she muttered as she continued to shake.

_ Sirius_, he thought, halfway annoyed that he would scare this poor girl and that he and probably James and Peter had gone outside the castle despite their promises.

Remus considered what he would do to the three of them when he saw them next. He nearly jumped as he felt the girl curl up next to him. He hesitantly put his arms around her.

_ Dia would kill me if she saw this,_ Remus said. _Then again this is an innocent situation, nothing to be jealous about. Just helping a scared little girl…Wait, how did she get in here? The castle is supposed to be invisible to Muggles, assuming she is, in fact, a Muggle._

Remus looked down at the girl. She was quite beautiful. Her brown hair was smooth, shiny, and fell down to her shoulders. Her eyelids were part of the way closed but Remus could tell that her eyes were light. They held no happiness, only sadness and trepidation, but if her eyes had shown a peace, they only would have added to her beauty. Up close and overall, she maintained an older appearance about her though she was tiny. After Remus had held her for a considerable while, the girl seemed to be in a deep sleep and visibly calm. He carefully retrieved his wand so that she wouldn't notice and muttered a drying spell.

They stayed there for a few more moments until the girl awoke realizing that she was hugging a complete stranger. She pulled away from his warm, comforting arms.

"Oh! I'm so sorry." She blushed and stared at the ground.

"It's alright, really. I'm glad I'm here to help. You look like you've had quite a fright. My name is Remus Lupin by the way." He held out his hand.

The girl eagerly shook it. "I'm Beth, Elizabeth Spenser. Hmmm, I've heard your name somewhere before, I know I have." She looked up into his silvery-gray eyes and gasped. _***Her hopes were confirmed when the light-haired boy looked up and over to the left. She now knew his name. It was Remus.***_

Beth stared at him, making Remus shift uncomfortably. "Well there is the story of the twins, Remus and Romulus."

"Yes, but I don't think that's it." _I remember that I was visiting my grandparents. I was asleep and dreaming about… _Beth tried desperately to recall the last few hours of her life but found them to be missing from her memory. _***The boy was tall and attractive with light brown hair and silvery-gray eyes.***_ She found herself looking up at him again, coming to the first of many realizations that she would have that night. _I dreamt about him…but how and why would I dream about someone I've never met? This is too surreal…_

As the silence invaded the comfort between the two, Remus was again curious to know how this mysterious girl managed to get into Hogwarts. He decided that he had to find out why she was here. Water drenched girls didn't usually show up in the middle of a hallway, not even in Hogwarts – unless he and his fellow Marauders as well as pranks were involved. "Beth, how did you get here?" he asked gently.

_How did I get here? That's a good question. Why did I leave my grandparents' house? I remember something else… __***A figure appeared in the shadows, a creature. She moved forward to investigate. An enormous shaggy black dog came bounding toward her. She gasped and began to run away.* **_

_ Maybe that's it. I'm not really sure. Nothing is making sense right now. I have to tell him something. _After racking her brain, Beth was able to come up with a few details of what could have possibly happened to her in the last few hours, but she unfortunately couldn't tell which were true and which were not.

"Oh, that. Well, I know I was visiting my grandparents, and I think I got lost. Everything's really hazy. I think when I saw a big, black dog, I ran and came upon these ancient ruins. I was glad that I was able to get in and that there was a roof over my head," she explained quickly.

_This all has to be a dream, even this boy in front of me, though part of me hopes that he's not. I wish I understood what was going on. _Beth glimpsed around at her surroundings and noticed that this was not a ruin as she had seen from the outside but a well-kept castle.

_Why am I here of all places? And am I in danger? I need to start thinking about things logically. What am I going to do? Can I trust Remus? Even though I have seen him before in my dreams, I've really just met him._ Beth waited for a sign as to what to do from here.

_ Ancient ruins?_ Remus thought. _That's what Hogwarts looks like to Muggles, but there are repelling charms to keep Muggles away so how could she possibly have been able to get in?_

"Well, we better not stay out here. I know where there is a warm fire you can sit by." He stood and held out his hand to help her up.

"I don't know…" Beth bit her lower lip. _Should I trust someone I've just met? I don't even know what's happened to me or my family._

Remus saw the hesitation in her eyes. She wasn't very keen on following him anywhere. He, himself, wasn't very keen on bringing her to Gryffindor Tower, but she really looked like she needed the help. He had seen the recognition in her eyes when she saw him. Somehow she knew of him, but how Remus had no idea. If anyone could help her in her situation it would be Professor Dumbledore. Unfortunately, it was about the time of the month when the password to Dumbledore's office changed, and only Lily Evans, his fellow prefect, would have the new password.

"Are you okay, Beth?" he asked trying to figure out what she was thinking in regards to him.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm just not sure I should go…" Her voice trailed off, too embarrassed to say what was on her mind.

"Look, it's okay. I promise that whatever you encountered outside can't hurt you anymore. And I promise I mean you no harm." He held out his hand again.

Beth took his hand and felt a warm comfort wash over her. She found those intense silvery-gray eyes with her own hazel ones and knew that Remus was someone she could trust.

The two started to walk. Beth's feet slipped out from under her as she stepped in a puddle that she had tracked in. As she began to wobble, Remus caught her and set her on her feet again. She continued to sway like a child who had been spun around many times. _Ohh, I feel so dizzy. I don't know if I can make it. _

"Careful there. Looks like you're still a little unsteady. Do you need any help?"

"I guess so..."

Remus put his arm around Beth to steady her. "Here, lean on me to help you walk when you feel dizzy, and we can stop if you need to."

"Alright, then."

The two stopped several times before they made it to the stairs just below the Fat Lady.

Beth looked over at Remus as she steadied herself against the wall, really seeing his appearance for the first time. "Remus, what in the world are you wearing?"

"Uh…um…well…" He stuttered as he quickly tried to come up with an explanation that would satisfy her. Beth raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, it's essential really. It gets rather cold in the castle at night and especially during the winter, so we've found that wearing these outfits and heavy cloaks are advantageous to keeping us warm."

"We? Us?" Beth inquired.

"Yes, there are others like me living here in the castle."

"Oh. You're right, I suppose. It is quite chilly in here."

"Well, Beth, you have been outside in the cold, wet rain. I'm sure it feels even colder to you." Remus breathed a sigh of relief as he draped his cloak around her shoulders.

"Thank you."

"We're almost there. Are you ready to continue?"

"Yes, I think so. Will I get to meet others?"

"I'm sure you will and pretty soon, if you're up to it." He put his arm around her once again to steady her.

"Oh my, all this walking is making me extremely tired."

"That's okay. I'll help you get there." Remus kindly assured her.

Beth was feeling increasingly dizzy as they neared the portrait of the Fat Lady. _Am I seeing things? There's a huge portrait of a large lady in a pink dress. Her lips are moving. Is she saying something? Oh goodness, I think I'm hallucinating now._

Beth began to fall again, but Remus caught her before she hit the floor. "We're nearly there, Beth. Just a few more steps, and then you can lie down." He hoped that there wouldn't be too many people in the common room.

**  
As Remus entered the common room, Lily Evans glanced up at him from her studies on the floor. "There's a couch right here in front of you by the fireplace. Lie down and rest." He looked up to see Lily walking over to the two of them.

"Hi, Remus. Who's this?" She asked with a slight concern.

_***The red-haired girl didn't seem to notice as she was busy making funny faces…* **_Beth thought Lily looked vaguely familiar just as Remus did. She had the pure red hair and emerald green eyes that Beth knew she had seen somewhere else. Beth shook her head to clear her thoughts. _No, it couldn't be. Could it be possible that I've seen her in my dream as well?_

"Beth, this is Lily Evans." He looked over at Lily. "She was frightened by something outside and ran in the castle and into me quite literally," Remus grinned sheepishly. Lily gave him a look, one with growing concern.

"Good to meet you." Lily smiled politely. "Would you excuse Remus and me for a few minutes?" Beth laid herself down on the open couch by the warm fireplace.

Lily pulled Remus by the arm to a corner of the room. "Remus, what's going on?" She continued before he could say anything, "Where did she come from? I've never seen that girl in my life. Is she a Hogwarts student?"

"Er…uh…" He wasn't expecting Lily to ask questions. Or more accurately was hoping that Lily wouldn't ask questions.

"Remus, what's wrong? Are you okay? You look a little pale still from being sick." She paused before continuing. "So…how did she get here? As a prefect, I shouldn't need to remind you how dangerous it is to let just anyone in to the castle and especially the common room. What if she's working for Voldemort?" Lily reprimanded him gently in a way that Dumbledore would most certainly use.

He put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Lily. I didn't let her in. She just came in. I don't know how though. I don't think Beth would be working for Voldemort. She's a Muggle, it seems. She believes the castle is an ancient ruin which is what…"

Lily waved his arm off. "Yes, yes I know. But why didn't she get repelled away then? Wait, what if the defenses on the walls of Hogwarts are weakening? Shouldn't we go see Professor Dumbledore right away?"

Remus considered her questions for a moment. "Lily, I don't think we're in any real immediate danger. If anyone is in trouble, it's Beth. Everything will be fine. We'll talk to Dumbledore in the morning. Right now we have to work on telling Beth about the magical world before she finds out in an unexpected way."

"You're right, I suppose." She sighed. "How shall we tell her?"

Remus turned toward the sleeping figure of Beth curled up on the couch. Telling her wouldn't be easy. He sat down next to her on the couch, watching her sleep peacefully. He was in awe of her beauty. He pushed the hair that had fallen in her face aside. She looked like an angel, and she seemed to be heaven-sent with the way they both met. And yet being with her seemed impossible. The fact that he was with Dia wasn't a problem. Though he liked Dia, there were no strong feelings between them, not like what he was feeling for Beth right now. He could hold her forever if he wanted just as he had in the corridor and…

"Remus, Remus." Lily whispered, snapping her fingers in front of his face. "I see how you're looking at her. You know she's off limits. She looks about 13 and besides you're still with Dia, remember?"

Remus put a muting spell on Beth's ears. His cheeks seemed to hold a newfound pink tinge as he searched for the words to express what he was feeling. Lily had always been a friend to him, and he felt that he could trust her to understand and not tell anyone else. He opened his mouth but shut it when he heard noises coming from just outside the portrait hole.

The Fat Lady swung open, and footsteps were heard at the entrance of the common room. Remus and Lily both looked over to see James and Sirius with James stuffing something into his robe pockets. Being that they were out of the common room past curfew, Lily met them halfway, ready to start in on them.

James saw Lily coming toward him and was set to try to impress her. Unfortunately, he still had no clue what the right way was to do this as yet.

"Hail, Hail! The Brothers of Mischief have arrived!" James announced to an almost empty common room, as he messed with his hair. "No need to applaud our arrival." Some fourth year girls in the corner looked up at them and giggled. "Ah, my most loyal subject has come to grace me with her presence." He smiled hoping Lily would be in a good mood.

She wasn't amused. She scowled at him and made the boy who was considerably taller than her quiver in fear. "Potter, Black, what are you doing out of the common room at this time of night? You know we're not allowed to go wandering the halls, especially now that You-know-who has come into power. I should turn you both in to Professor McGonagall." Her eyes flashed dangerously. She looked highly irritated and worried.

They took a few steps closer to the couch where Remus sat with Beth. "Hey, no worries, Evans. We'd never get caught or anything. It's not like we went outside the castle," Sirius replied nonchalantly.

"That is not the point," she said in a huff.

James grinned and unconsciously messed with his hair. "Sirius, I do believe that Evans is softening toward us. She's actually worried for our safety! At this rate, she'll be accompanying me on the next Hogsmeade weekend," he smirked.

"Not a chance, Potter! Get the idea out of your thick, inflated skull. I'd rather take my chances with the giant squid. And I don't give a darn about your safety. I just don't want you to lose anymore points from Gryffindor, especially the ones I have worked hard to earn. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal clear, Evans," Sirius said quickly in an attempt to stop James from saying anything else and getting them in trouble, "now if you will excuse us, we have some business to attend to before bed."

As they walked away from her scowling face and crossed arms, they suddenly noticed the curious situation involving Remus and someone, a girl who was not Dia Lyons. James frowned and his whole demeanor changed from arrogant prick to concerned friend. The two boys walked over with Lily following close behind.

Sirius, not realizing the implications of Beth's appearance as of yet, couldn't help but make stupid comments at Remus' expense. "Hey, Remus, who's the cute girl? Aren't you dating that Dia Lyons?" Sirius teased.

"Yes, I am." He gave a short answer, not wanting to delve into his love life.

"She's a bit young for you, isn't she Remus?" Sirius winked.

Remus blushed slightly and dismissed the meaning behind his statement. "Actually I don't know how old she is, didn't ask. I discovered her in one of the corridors on my way from the infirmary. She's been sleeping most of the time. Seems that she was scared by a _big, black dog_," he continued in an annoyed tone, "and so she ran into Hogwarts, trying to get away from the dog and the rain."

Sirius seemed offended by his comment. "I don't believe there were any big black dogs out their tonight, Remus. I would have checked myself, but James and I were too busy scoping out the Slytherin common room and dormitories for our next prank."

Remus' facial features softened, showing he was no longer upset with them. Lily stood behind him, leaning on the back of the couch. She was confused about the sudden code but said nothing. "We think she may be a Muggle, but we don't know how she would have gotten in if she was," she interrupted them to draw the conversation back to Beth.

"Well, what do we do with her now, then?"

James was the first to make a suggestion. There was a serious tone in his voice, one that the boys didn't hear too often and that Lily had never heard. "First, I guess we'll have to tell her about our world for now. We can always get Dumbledore to modify her memory before we send her back to…"

"No," Remus interrupted. He opened his mouth but couldn't continue.

"Remus," James paused, before continuing. He could tell there was something weighing on his friend's mind. "You know we can't be too careful with Muggles."

Lily was amazed that James could be cautious and sensible. She really didn't think that he was capable. _What is going on here? Potter cares? Wait, what do I care if he cares? I must be more tired than I thought. Tomorrow morning Potter will be back to his old self, and I'll go back to being annoyed with him all the time._ Lily turned from watching James to looking at Remus.

"I know, James." He wanted to say that he wished that she would be able to stay but he remained quiet.

"Shall we wake her and tell her the good news?" Sirius asked, a big smile spreading across his face.

Remus took off the muting charm and gently shook her awake. He didn't realize Sirius was very close to her. She stirred and turned her head away from the couch opening her eyes. She shrieked. "Dog!"

"Hey, I'm insulted!"

"No, you aren't, Sirius, don't lie," James smirked.

"Beth, these are my best friends, Sirius Black and James Potter." Remus informed her. "How are you feeling?"

_***They were laughing at a joke that the tall gray-eyed boy with smooth black hair had just told. Another tall boy with untidy black hair and hazel eyes was directing everyone into position…***_ Beth sat up to get a better look at the two boys. _This must be one big, long dream or piece of déjà vu. I know I've seen these two boys as well._

She turned her attention back to Remus. "I'm better. Nice to meet you all. So, where am I exactly? I didn't think to ask before. How did you find this place? Did you steal away from parents or an orphanage?"

The four looked uncomfortable. "Actually, no," James began, "We're at a school where we learn different things than you do. We study magic."

"Magic?" She began to laugh. "Oh, that's a good one. Come on, what are you really doing here?"

Sirius pulled out his wand to show her. She gave a short yell as the instrument looked familiar but she couldn't place it. "What the bloody hell? You're nutters." _I remember something else, something different…__***Hooded figures with pieces of wood emitting green and red lights…***_

Remus found Beth's reaction to Sirius' wand to be more than a bit unsettling. She was clearly frightened by the sudden exchange. He began to question just what did happen to her before he found her in the corridor. _What could have happened to her?_ A horrible thought suddenly struck Remus. _Voldemort._

Remus glanced around at his friends and saw that no one else seemed to find her outburst a bit peculiar. Lily was looking at Beth in an odd sort of way as though she was about to come to the same conclusion Remus had only moments before.

"No, we're telling the truth." James protested. "Just watch this."

He pulled out his wand and a chocolate frog. "Ennervate." The frog began to jump in his hand.

"That's nothing, watch this." Sirius pulled out a small seed eager to show up his best mate. "Florioso." The seed grew into a beautiful rose, which he gave to Beth.

Beth watched with amazement. "Wow." She looked over at Remus. "So, I guess that's the real reason why you're wearing uniforms and cloaks over them." _Black cloaks, magical sticks, magic wands. Could they be like the ones I just remembered?_

"Of course we weren't lying." Sirius smiled.

"Your…wands, that's what you call them right?" Remus nodded. He wasn't sure he liked where this was headed. "Do…can they do harmful things?"

Remus put his hand on Beth's shoulder. "Only if someone wants to. Beth, listen to me. Did someone try to hurt you before you came to the castle?"

_***The figure raised the wood in its hand, muttering something incomprehensible to her.***_ "I…I don't know. Is it bad that I can't remember anything?" Beth burst into tears. "What's happening to me, Remus? I'm so confused and scared."

Remus really didn't know what to say to Beth. He had an idea what was going on with her, but he didn't think it was a good idea to mention anything just yet. Lily saved him from having to say what was on his mind.

"We should probably get to bed now. It's getting late. We can bring Beth to see Professor Dumbledore in the morning since it's Saturday," Lily piped up, ignoring a horrorstruck James who was appalled she would suggest sleep so early on a Friday night.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Beth tried to dry her tears.

"Yes, he's our headmaster. He always knows what to do. He can help you get back to your family," Lily headed toward the stairs that led to the girls' dormitories.

"Oh, I hope I can go back to my family. I wish I could do magic, though. It would be fun." Beth sighed. "More importantly, I wish I wasn't so confused and could tell you how and why I'm here," she sniffed.

Remus looked around and saw that the common room was empty except for Lily and his fellow Marauders. "Don't worry. You'll feel better in the morning. Lily, can you help me take Beth to your dormitory?" Lily whirled around to stare at Remus.

"But Remus, you're not allowed up into the girls' dormitories. Remember Professor McGonagall put up those extra precautionary measures two years ago when she caught Black sneaking up the staircase three nights in a row?"

Mischievous smiles formed on all three Marauders' faces. "Don't worry about that, Evans. We've got that all taken care of." James smirked and played with his hair.

Lily briefly gave him a suspicious look. She returned to the couch to help Remus lead Beth upstairs when they heard girls' voices coming from the staircase to the girls' dormitories.

"Lily, we thought you'd be done your homework by now. I know you didn't have that much to finish…" The short blond girl stopped in mid-sentence when she noticed that there was a strange girl standing in between Remus and Lily.

Remus sat back down, knowing that it was going to be a little while longer before they brought Beth upstairs to sleep.

Beth looked over at the three girls who had just entered the room. _***Two girls, the tallest with brown doe-like eyes and caramel skin and the shortest with fair skin, wispy blond hair, and blue button eyes, were whispering to one another.***_ _Things keep getting stranger…_

"Hi, girls." Lily smiled. "I'd like you to meet someone, who may quite possibly be staying with us for awhile. Beth, this is Alice Prewett, Dorcas Meadowes, and Morwenna Marchbanks. Girls, this is Beth."

"Nice to meet you." She shook hands with each one of them. The tall athletic girl with dark skin and brown eyes was Dorcas. The shorter plump girl with blond hair and blue eyes was Alice. The third girl, Morwenna, was thin with dark hair and eyes. _***The last girl, who was rather slender with dark hair and eyes, and the shortest and heaviest boy, who had mousy brown hair and watery blue eyes, were doubled over in laughter…***_

_The boy with blue eyes, where is he? _Beth smiled. _I'm almost remembering something. _A sudden pop made Beth turn towards the fireplace. She stepped closer as though she was seeing it for the first time.

_***Suddenly the dream became focused on someone else, who was apparently next to the boy with glasses, trying to calm his mate down. This boy was tall and attractive just like the two boys with black hair, but instead he had light brown hair and silvery-gray eyes. Behind him was a bright and raging fire in an enormous stone fireplace. The dream was now almost like a movie zooming in on one specific character. His face looked tired, but his eyes danced with laughter. **_

_** Yes, she liked him the best and was drawn to him the most out of all the friends. A burst of sound filled the dream for a split second, and she heard the words that echoed in her mind for hours afterward.**_

_** "Hey, Remus!"***_

Beth dropped to the floor gasping for air as though someone had knocked the wind out of her. Remus knelt down beside her to make sure she was okay.

"Beth, what's wrong?"

_***Every time she saw these 8 friends, she wished that they were real and that she could know them. All of them seemed so close to one another, and she was lonely without any friends. The only people she had were her parents, grandparents and cousin, the last of whom she would rather do without.***_

Beth threw her arms around Remus' neck. "It wasn't a dream," she whispered.

Remus blushed at the abrupt gesture. Everyone else looked on with concern for Beth's sudden strange behavior. "What wasn't a dream, Beth?" Alice asked cautiously.

"You, all of you. I dreamt that you were all gathering for a photo. S-Sirius had just told a joke. James was directing everyone into position. Alice and Dorcas were sharing secrets. Lily and Sirius were making faces at the camera, much to James' dismay. He was going to tell them off, but you, Remus, stepped in to calm him down. You were standing in front of the fire place," she paused before continuing. Everyone looked confused as to how she could possibly have dreamt of them, complete strangers.

"That's how I remembered the dream, and I remember something else too. There was a black dog in my dream coming toward me, and my cousin was laughing. No, someone else was laughing. When I woke up I remember someone laughing, and it was a horrible evil laugh." She shuddered.

"My grandparents were having a party. I remember hearing screams and seeing wands. I still don't remember how I got here, but do you think everyone at the party is alright? Do you think my family is going to be okay?" Beth put her head on Remus' shoulder.

Everyone shared a knowing look. Remus hesitantly put his arms around Beth to comfort her. James spoke up. "We don't know, Beth, but we can talk to Professor Dumbledore in the morning. He'll know more and can help you find your family."

"It think it's time for bed, girls," Lily motioned them to go on ahead of her to their dormitory.

Remus gently pulled Beth up into a standing position, and Lily helped him lead her to the girls' room. He stopped the two of them at the base of the stairs so he could temporarily disengage McGonagall's alarm. Lily watched as he tapped some of the bricks by the stairs and muttered, "Quisque est abstineo." Whatever he did seemed to work, because all was silent as they climbed the stairs with Beth. Lily directed Beth to the bed that she offered to give up for the night, while Remus quickly returned to his own room.

**  
"Hey! It's lover-boy. So, did you kiss her goodnight, Moony?"

Remus pulled off his shirt and threw it at Sirius. "Shove it, Padfoot. How can you be so insensitive? She may have lost the only family she has. And I just met her, for Merlin's sake. I'm not like you, snogging away the second you meet a new girl. She's nice, and I wouldn't want to scare her away."

"A new girl? What's this about a new girl, Moony? What about Dia Lyons?" Peter had just awoken to the conversation.

"Her name's Beth." Remus sat on his bed, looking away from his mates. "And she's sort of pretty, I guess," he admitted. James, Sirius, and Peter sniggered knowing how Remus was when it came to being interested in any new girl. Like the time in fifth year when he had a crush on the Hufflepuff Amelia Bones, and it took months for him to admit it to them let alone actually go and talk to her.

It was hard considering his "furry little problem," as James so referred to it. He generally just didn't want to get involved with girls, but with Beth there were some new strange feelings that he didn't understand. He was seemingly throwing all caution to the wind when he was normally super guarded.

Remus stood up and changed into his night clothes so he could jump into his four-poster. "I don't know. We'll just see what happens. Like James said, she may even be going back to her family tomorrow."

He was attempting to be the voice of reason as usual. "It's not like I'm head over heels for her, unlike James, who's quite smitten with a certain Lily Evans." He smirked and Sirius as well as Peter broke out into fits of laughter.

James turned bright red. "Not funny, you three." He appeared to be an arrogant fool amongst other people at Hogwarts because he was trying to impress Lily. And he really didn't have a clue when it came to winning her over. With the rest of the Marauders, however, James could be himself and talk about his real feelings with his best mates.

"Don't worry, Prongs. She'll like you, eventually. Hey, years from now you two may even be married," Remus teased. James levitated his pillow in the air and successfully hit all three other Marauders, silencing the two laughing hyenas and ending all serious conversation.


	2. Good and Bad News

Chapter 2 Good and Bad News

The next day, Saturday, the James, Sirius, Remus, Lily, and Beth made their way to Dumbledore's office after breakfast. Lily's friends had gone down to breakfast as well but headed to the library afterward to complete their upcoming assignments. Peter joined the girls, knowing how much help he would need to finish his essays.

"Remember, Dorcas, Quidditch practice after dinner!" James called after her.

"What on earth is Quidditch?" James and Sirius looked with horror at Beth, while Remus was mildly amused at their reaction to her ignorance of Quidditch.

James unconsciously mussed up his hair. He smiled and proudly puffed out his chest at the thought that the best Chaser Hogwarts had ever seen would able to explain the greatest game in the world to a new unknowing person. "Well," his arrogance returning in full swing from the previous night. "Quidditch is…"

"Potter!" Lily interrupted. "I don't think we should be explaining any more than neces…" Sirius quickly put his hand over her mouth. She glared at him and pushed his hand away.

"James," Remus joined the conversation, "how about a small overview for now?"

James gave him a defeated look. "Alright, alright. Quidditch is a wizard sport played on brooms. There are seven players on a team that play another team. They all fly around a field, which has three tall hoops on each side of the pitch. There are four balls, the Quaffle, two Bludgers, and the Golden Snitch.

"There are three Chasers on each team." He paused and looked at Lily, who was frowning at him. He turned back to Beth and sighed. "I'm one of the Chasers for our house and so is Dorcas, but anyway they pass the Quaffle back and forth trying to get it into one of the three hoops. There's one Keeper, who guards the hoops from the Quaffle. Then there are two Beaters, – Sirius is one – they carry bats and keep the two Bludgers away from their teammates because the balls are bewitched to knock people off of their brooms." He paused at the horror displayed on Beth's face.

"The last player is the Seeker, whose job it is to find the Golden Snitch and catch it because catching it signifies the end of the game. Our house team is favored to win again this year, especially since I've become captain." He smiled, proud of his accomplishments at Quidditch.

"Is Quidditch a dangerous sport? It sounds frighteningly scary." Beth asked warily.

"Nah, every game's an adventure. No one's died or anything at least, but…"

Lily interrupted him. "Yes, Beth it is a dangerous sport. Don't let Potter try to fool you here. He may be a good Chaser," James smiled at her compliment, "but the prick," his smile withered, "still has his turns in the hospital wing along with the rest of the players. I thought Remus said a short explanation."

James tried to cover up his hurt by arguing with Lily. "Evans, you don't know what you're talking about. You've never even been up on a broom besides first-year flying lessons. If you'd just…"

As James and Lily engaged in their usual "friendly banter," Beth looked all around the halls. She was amazed at how the stairs moved in the castle, especially the stairs to the headmaster's office. They knocked on the door and waited for a response.

"Come in." The five teenagers quickly filed in.

As Dumbledore turned around to face them, a new person he had never seen before at Hogwarts surprised him. He smiled to welcome her warmly.

"Hello. I don't believe I've seen you before. I'm Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And you are…?"

"My name is Elizabeth Spenser. I'm from a town called Cranleigh, but I was visiting my grandparents. I'm not sure why but we don't visit them very often. I enjoy their company greatly," she sighed, searching for something else to tell about her grandparents.

"Hmm, Spenser." Dumbledore's expression turned grave. "Elizabeth, how did you come upon this castle?"

Beth didn't really have an answer to that question. "I'm not really too sure. I think I must have run from the village where my grandparents live. Someone scared me. I'm lucky to have found this place."

Everyone gazed at Beth. She seemed to be thinking hard about something important that she needed to remember.

Dumbledore addressed her. "Elizabeth, I knew your grandparents, Damon and Eva Spenser." He became more uncomfortable. "I see that you are trying to remember something. You were there, weren't you? When they attacked the village?"

Beth looked up in surprise. "But how did you know about the attack? It was simply awful, but I don't know why or how I came to be here, and…"

Dumbledore put his hand up to silence her. "I'm sorry to have to say this to you, Miss Spenser. The person in charge of the attack on the village last night killed your family." The words hung like a death sentence.

"No!" She shrieked, as she crumbled to the floor. She remembered everything.

_***Beth awoke from her dream. People outside were making a terrible commotion. **_

_** "Huh?" she said, as she was still awaking from her dream state. She heard someone yelling her name in the distance. Still confused as to what was going on, she quickly jumped out of bed and made her way down the stairs. "**__**What's happening? First my dream and now this?"**_

_** As Beth cautiously arrived downstairs and approached the window in the kitchen, she saw chaos and disorder amongst her family members and guests outside in the yard. Hooded figures with wands emitting green and red lights were the cause of terror at the party. Closer inspection brought her focus on her grandmother who also had a wand in her hand. **_

_** When the girl stepped forward to understand the situation, the back door burst open, and her grandfather flew in backwards, landing on the table with a thump. His arms and face were bruised, his left arm looked broken, and there was a deep gash on his cheek. His face was filled with sweat and tears, and when he noticed his granddaughter, he became exceedingly worried.**__**The expression on his face was one of deep concern and sorrow. **_

_** "You must leave out the front door, right now," he said, out of breath.**_

_** A cloaked figure appeared in the doorway. "Go now!" her grandfather exclaimed, "Silencio!" He pointed his wand in the direction of the figure.**_

_** Beth froze in fear. The figure raised the wood in its hand, muttering something incomprehensible to her. A ray of blue light came from the wand toward her, but she was thrown down before it could hit her fully. It managed to nick her in the shoulder. Everything seemed to run in slow motion after that. She couldn't remember why she was there, just that she needed to get away as soon as possible. A force pushed Beth to crawl on her hands and knees out of the kitchen and the house and run away into the night.***_

Her grandfather had told her to run. She had wanted to stay to help, but some force carried her away. And now all in her family were dead. She cried and muttered to herself more than anyone else, "I should have stayed to help. I should have been there."

Dumbledore told her, "It would not have done any good to stay and try to fight. You would have been no match for a wizard with a wand. Not yet anyway."

The rest of the students nearly jumped at the last statement. "Sir, are you saying that Beth could be a witch?" James inquired.

"Of course. Everything fits." Lily answered. "Being a witch she could gain entrance into Hogwarts, but never knowing about the magical world, she couldn't see the castle for what it really was."

"Yes, Miss Evans, that is what I have deduced as well. Then perhaps you have solved other small puzzles. Miss Spenser, it seems, has common symptoms of a memory charm being placed upon her."

Everyone looked taken aback, except for Beth who was still on the floor sobbing and muttering to herself. "A memory charm?" Remus repeated. "Why would anyone want to put a memory charm on Beth? Wouldn't they just kill her like the rest of her family?"

"Ah, yes I have asked myself those very same questions, Mr. Lupin, but I have yet to understand or come up with a satisfying answer. For now our plan of action is to have Madame Pomfrey come and look at Miss Spenser to make sure there are no long-lasting harmful effects from the memory charm as well as to see if she has sustained any injuries during her journey from her grandparents' home."

Dumbledore paused looking at each one of his students in turn. "Then you can all help her take Miss Spenser to the girls' dormitory where she can rest and recover until she is ready to face the magical world. She will no doubt need an enormous amount of help from all of you to make sure that she is well-adjusted."

**  
Beth hadn't left the girls' dormitory for a week after her discovery of the death of her family. She had shed so many tears that Lily and the other girls wondered why they didn't see puddles under Beth's bed.

Lily felt sorry for Beth. She knew she wouldn't have wanted that to happen to her family. Not even to her mean sister Petunia. Lily was glad to have a Silencing charm on the room because Dumbledore didn't want anyone else to know about Beth yet.

One morning Beth sounded like she was doing better, though she still kept the curtains to her own new four-poster closed. Lily was putting up her hair as there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Remus entered smiling shyly. Lily jumped not expecting to see him.

"Hello, Lily. How's she doing?"

"Better," was all she could think of to say to him.

He smirked and turned to walk toward Beth. "Oh, James is looking for you. I think he wants to try out a new experiment on you so I'd watch out. Just letting you know, prefect to prefect." Remus had barely gotten the words out when he heard the door close.

He walked over to the four-poster and tried to open the curtains, but they wouldn't move. Remus shrugged, muttered an unlocking charm, and peaked through the curtains.

"Beth? You awake?" He whispered.

She stirred and looked up at him. Her head was at the end of her bed and her feet on the pillow.

"Remus, you're allowed in here?"

"Actually, Lily let me in. Sorry if I'm bothering you. I can leave."

"No, you can stay. You're always a comfort to me." She smiled.

"Did Lily lock these curtains so you could be alone?"

"Uh, I don't think so. She never said anything. You can put a lock on your curtains?" She asked, confused.

Remus parted the curtains and sat beside her on the edge of the bed. "You sure can. Hey, I bet you put that lock on yourself without even knowing. A first sign that you do indeed have magic in you," he smiled at her.

"People can do magic without a wand? How is that possible?"

"You can do pretty much anything with magic, with or without a wand. That's what makes it so much fun."

Beth became very solemn. "I bet you can't bring people back from the dead, though," she said almost in a whisper.

Remus shifted uncomfortably and turned to get a closer look at her face. He noticed the dark circles under eyes indicating the lack of sleep. "Have you been having nightmares? Or just having trouble sleeping?" He asked.

"Both really. My mind is always racing with the events in the village. When I do finally fall asleep, I have nightmares about that night and ones about other things as well. The person that killed my family had me prisoner and I couldn't do anything about it. I was so lonely and scared. It was so strange." Beth shuddered.

Remus scratched his head trying to think of what to say. "It'll be alright, Beth. You're safe here. You have so much to learn about our world. Please don't fear him. Fear is what he thrives on. Most people are afraid of him. They can't even use his name, but I want you to be able to use it like the rest of us. His name is Voldemort."

Beth could feel the hair on the back of her neck prickle as she heard the name for the first time. "Voldemort? A strange name for a strange person, I guess."

Remus smiled and moved her hair out of her face. She gave him a small smile. "Oh, guess what? I used to have a lot of dreams before I came here about you and your friends. And I wished that I was with the lot of you because I don't have many friends. Pretty funny how things work out, eh?"

Remus, still wondering how that could have been possible, grinned and pulled Beth up from where they were sitting on the bed. "You know if you're feeling alright, there is someone who wishes to speak with you. He has some news for you that might cheer you up."

"Professor Dumbledore, you mean?"

"Yes, come on." Remus helped her on her feet. "If you want to freshen up…well, Lily will have to show you the bathroom, and her clothes are in the wardrobe. I'll be waiting down in the common room for you with the others."

**  
"Hello, Miss Spenser." Dumbledore greeted her as Beth and her 8 new friends entered his office. "I see that you are up and about now." He gave her a warm smile.

"Yes, Professor. Remus said you needed to see me, sir." She waited expectantly.

"I did indeed. I remember your parents. They were very kind, but politely declined when you were offered acceptance into Hogwarts. They thought it was best for you to grow up as a Muggle, or non-magical person. You see, your grandparents were a very powerful witch and wizard. But for some reason your father, their son, was born a Squib."

All the students gasped except Beth. "What's a Squib?"

Alice answered. "A Squib is a person born into a magical family but has no magical powers."

"And that's perhaps why her parents or at least her father didn't feel comfortable with Beth's possible discovery and entrance into the magical world?" Remus inquired.

"That is a possibility, Mr. Lupin. Now, however, it is imperative that Miss Spenser be introduced to our world and begin her studies at this school. Since you are all top students in your classes, I want you to help her learn from the beginning, and then she will be allowed to join you in lecture as soon as I deem her ready." He turned toward Beth.

"Miss Spenser, I must ask if you are ready to embark on such an extremely difficult task. Your fellow classmates have been studying for 6 years what you will be learning in just a few months."

_Six years of studies in several months?! Will I be able to learn that quickly? _Beth sighed. _What choice do I have really?_ "I believe I am ready, sir. But how will I be able to learn all these things without books and supplies, sir?"

"Very well, I think that each of your fellow classmates should work together and tutor you in their best subjects. Miss Evans, you will tutor in Charms, Mr. Potter in Transfiguration, Mr. Lupin in Defense against the Dark Arts, Mr. Black in Astronomy, Miss Prewett in Herbology, Miss Meadows in Care of Magical Creatures, and Miss Marchbanks as well as Mr. Pettigrew can help you with History of Magic."

"Professor Dumbledore, do you really believe that we'll be able to work together on this matter?" Lily scowled at James and Sirius, who were busy conversing with each other.

"Yes, Miss Evans, I believe it is imperative that you all put aside your differences in order to help Miss Spenser achieve success in her academic studies."

Lily turned a bit pink. "Yes, sir."

Morwenna was the first to notice that the headmaster had overlooked one subject. "Professor, what about Potions? Who will be teaching her in that subject?"

"I believe that for Potions we will need to get another student involved. Hmm, I think that Mr. Snape will work out just fine."

Sirius and James snapped themselves to attention and Sirius interrupted, "What? Pardon me, Professor Dumbledore, but do you think it wise to be involving someone like Snape with such a delicate matter?"

"Yes, Mr. Black, I do. Mr. Snape is the best student in potions, far advanced for his age. I want to make sure that Miss Spenser understands and is able to pick up on her subjects quickly so that she can be caught up hopefully by the end of the year. Seventh year is very important at Hogwarts. As soon as possible when Miss Spenser is ready, she should join you in your classes. Now to the matter of getting your books and supplies, Miss Spenser. Professor McGonagall will escort you on a trip to Diagon Alley so that you can get all you need."

Dorcas spoke up. "Professor, do you think that we could go with them?"

"No, Miss Meadowes. I think it will be better if you all stay and concentrate on your studies. It will be much safer and quicker if Miss Spenser and Professor McGonagall go alone. Now if I could ask you all to go back to your common room while I give some more instruction to Miss Spenser as well as summon Professor McGonagall to take her right away so that she may begin her studies."

"See you, Beth." All eight students reluctantly left Beth in Dumbledore's office.

Dumbledore threw some powder into the fireplace and called, "Minerva, I would like to speak with you at once."

A few moments later, a tall witch with glasses and a tight bun in her hair came through the fireplace. Beth stared in surprise. She knew that she was now in the magical world, but everything just seemed so strange to her.

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore?"

"Miss Spenser, this is Professor McGonagall. She will be your Transfiguration teacher. Minerva, this is Elizabeth Spenser, the new student I told you about. If you could, I would like you to take her to Diagon Alley as soon as possible so that she may get everything she needs for school."

"Certainly, Albus. We can go almost at once." She turned to Beth. "Are you ready dear child?"

Something was plaguing Beth since she discovered she would be going to Diagon Alley, and now was her first chance to verbalize it. "Professors, this is all very exciting for me, but how am I to pay for all this? My money is at home in the bank."

"Do not worry, Miss Spenser. You will be able to get your affairs in order in the next week. For now, however, you do have access to your grandparents' bank account at Gringotts, the wizard bank, in Diagon Alley. When Professor McGonagall takes you there, you can fill out the necessary paperwork to have the account transferred to your name. You are the only surviving relative, and I'm sure that they would have wanted you to be able to attend Hogwarts."

Beth nodded in response. She felt as if she would cry if she opened her mouth to speak.

"Alright, well that seems to settle everything. You may go to Diagon Alley as soon as you are both ready for the journey."

**  
"I can't believe it! He wants that git, Snivellus, to tutor Beth in Potions? Every day that she has to spend with him is less time with us! He'll be teaching all sorts of dark arts." Sirius yelled.

"Whoa, Padfoot, come on. She'll be okay. And if I didn't know better, I would think that you have a crush on Beth." Remus teased.

Sirius ignored him and continued to pace. "Moony, all I'm saying is that we have to look out for her when she's with him. You never know what he'll try if he knows that she's friends with us. She's really vulnerable right now because she's just starting her studies, whereas he's advanced in all potions and not to mention curses. It's like a 6th year tutoring a 1st year. No telling what sort of influence he'll try to have on her."

"I'll have to agree with Padfoot on that point. He could have a lot of influence on the way she thinks about anything, not just Potions."

"Thank you, Prongs. Beth will be happy to know that at least two of us care for her safety."

"Oh, bugger off, Padfoot. I care about Beth. I didn't say that we weren't going to keep an eye on her when she's with him. Come on. Let's go back down to the common room. Beth should be back soon with McGonagall."

**  
Dorcas called to the boys. "About time you three came down here, Beth will be here any minute."

As soon as the sentence left her mouth, the portrait hole opened and Beth as well as their Transfiguration professor came through.

"Hi, guys. We're back. Diagon Alley was simply amazing. And…"

"Miss Spenser, I think we should take your things upstairs before you begin telling your friends about your journey."

"Yes, Professor McGonagall."

"We'll help you." Alice offered.

After they put away Beth's new things and Professor McGonagall had left, the five girls returned to the common room so that Beth could tell them all about her day.

"Well, first we took the Floo Network from Professor McGonagall's office. Then we went to Gringotts so that I could get some money for my school supplies. It took a while, but the ride down to the vault was worth it. Then we went to get my robes, my books, my potions equipment…"

There was a loud throat clearing, and Beth fell silent, confused. James gave Sirius a glare before speaking.

"Beth, about your potions tutoring, or your tutor I should say. You'll have to be careful around Sniv-Snape." He attempted to keep his contempt toward his rival in check. "Don't be naïve, I mean, don't believe absolutely everything he tells you. Not every wizard you come across is going to be good, as I'm sure you've already figured out. So just be extra careful around him, okay?"

"Alright, I will, I promise. You said his name is Snape? That's a funny name to give your kid."

The boys laughed while Lily answered her. "His first name is Severus, Beth. The boys are being immature." She glared at the boys. "And there's nothing wrong with Severus. Potter and Black like to bully other students. They have this silly little rivalry going on. Severus and I grew up in the same neighborhood. He's just a misunderstood boy."

"You're wrong Lily," James countered. "We don't bully. Sniv-Snape is not innocent. He's attacked us loads of times when you aren't around. And have you already forgotten last year when he called you a mudblood?" Lily chose to look away and ignore James instead of continuing the conversation.

Remus frowned at them and turned back to Beth. "So what about the rest of your trip?"

"I bought an owl and named her Surprise." Everyone gave her funny looks. "What? She's a very beautiful owl but was ever so surprised when I picked her as a pet. So then I went to get my wand. That was the best part, even though Mr. Ollivander was sort of creepy. I tried so many that we all thought I would never find the right one. But then it happened."

She pulled out her wand from her robes. "See? 7 inches, beech with unicorn hair. I can't wait to try out some spells. Do you think we could start right now?" She asked eagerly, jumping up with excitement.

"Yes, I think we should start with Astronomy and go look at the stars," Sirius winked at Remus and pulled her toward the portrait hole.

"Oh, no, no, no, Sirius. Don't even think about it. It'll be hours before nightfall." Remus led her back to the group. "I think we should start with some simple charms, don't you agree, Lily?"

"Yes, quite," she said, beaming.

They opened up Lily's Charms book to show Beth the Wingardium Leviosa spell. A sweet voice rang from behind them. "Hey, Remus. Planning your next prank with the boys?"

Beth looked up to see the source of the voice. She gasped. "Dia! What are you doing here?"

The smile vanished from Dia's face. "Why Elizabeth, what a pleasant surprise?" She looked down at Beth's wand. "I suppose you're not a Squib like your father after all, though I'm sure it will be difficult for you anyway."

She moved closer to Beth. "I assumed the magic must have run out after your grandparents. Lucky for you, you must have discovered some somewhere in that puny little body of yours. Otherwise you'd probably be dead just like your coward of a father." Beth could feel the anger building within her. She was fighting back the tears.

"Too scared to even send his daughter to Hogwarts, afraid that you might be better than him. Somehow I sincerely doubt that. You haven't shown any signs of magic yet, why should you now? You should have stayed there and died with your family. And then…"

Remus was flabbergasted. He had never seen an evil side to Dia before. He stood up and interrupted her. "Dia, what is your problem? Beth's never done anything to you and…"

It was Dia's turn to interrupt. She sneered. Remus stepped back not used to this sort of behavior from his ex-girlfriend. "She has done much, more than you know." She turned to Beth. "I promise you haven't seen the last of me, Elizabeth." She turned and stomped away.

The friends turned their shocked faces from Dia to Beth. She was sitting curled up in a ball on the floor. Remus sat down beside her. "Beth, are you okay? It's all right you know. We won't let her hurt you. She's full of it anyway. Her attitude was getting on my nerves. I wonder what I ever saw in her when we were going steady."

"You dated Dia?"

"Uh, yeah, for a little bit. She lost her fun side, too worried about what other people think. I'd rather enjoy my time with people who are more carefree and fun to be around like James, Sirius, Peter, Lily, Alice, Dorcas, Morwenna, and you." At this, Beth fell into another bout of tears.

"Merlin, Remus, you sure know how to comfort a girl," Sirius replied sarcastically.

Remus ignored him. "Come on, Beth, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" he asked clearly confused.

Beth ceased her crying but still managed many sobs in between her words. "She's…right. I should be…with my…family…right now. I am a…coward. I've done…everything to…her."

"Aww, Beth you know none of that's true." Morwenna moved in to comfort her as well. "You're a brave girl to stand up and get away from You-know-who. And you belong here with us right now to start your studies in magic. You don't even know Dia. She's probably jealous that Remus will be spending more time with his friends now. She was just trying to take it out on you. I'm sure everyone else agrees with me." The girls and boys nodded their heads.

Beth shook her head. "I guess you're right about the first couple of things. I'm glad to have found great friends like you now. But you're wrong about Dia." She lowered her voice to almost a whisper and the group had to lean forward to hear her. "Unfortunately, I do know her and have known her for a long time. She's my cousin."

"What?!" Everyone exclaimed.

"Yes, she's my grandmother's niece. Her grandfather and my grandmother are brother and sister." Beth suddenly became distant as she remembered a few years back when she and Dia were playing in the toy room.

***Okay today we're going to play a little game. It's called pain, and we'll just see how much you can take with no squealing whatsoever. You'll feel even more pain if you do.**

** Beth was lying on the floor trying to get away but she was bound to the wardrobe. If she moved too much it would fall and probably kill her. Not that Dia would have minded. She loved to torture Beth. She never seemed to care about her at all even though it was her cousin. Beth was glad that she didn't visit her grandparents very often. They were nice people, but she didn't want to deal with Dia.***

Beth certainly understood now how her cousin tortured her. She could only guess that she had concealed her wand. Or maybe she didn't need a wand to do magic. If that was true, then why hadn't she, Beth, done any wandless magic besides maybe locking curtains? Maybe that was all a misunderstanding, and Lily was the one who locked them.

_Perhaps Dumbledore made a mistake, and I am a Squib just like my father._ She pushed that thought out of her mind as she remembered going to Ollivander's to buy a wand. Mr. Ollivander had said that she would be a powerful witch one day.

"Dia can't hurt me anymore." She muttered under her breath, and she became aware that her friends were staring at her.

"Shall we learn some spells then?" _I can't wait to get Dia back for everything she's done to me._


	3. Gryffindor or Slytherin?

Chapter 3 Gryffindor or Slytherin?

"You're going to be all right. Dumbledore will introduce you and then you'll try on a hat that will sort you into the right house." Remus reassured her.

"Yep! Gryffindor, just like us."

"Oh gosh, what if I'm not in Gryffindor?" Beth looked at all of them worried.

"Don't worry, we'll still be here for you no matter what." Morwenna tried to comfort her.

"As long as she's not in Slytherin!" Sirius interrupted.

"Oh shut up, Sirius!" Alice punched him in the arm. "We'll still be friends with her even if she's in Slytherin."

"Yeah, she'll definitely need us if she's going to survive that lot." Dorcas added. "Let's go into the Great Hall. Dumbledore is expecting us."

**  
The Great Hall grew quiet as the Headmaster stood to speak. "We have a new student in our midst today. Her name is Elizabeth Spenser. She came to our attention in light of the most recent attack by Voldemort. She is a 6th year, but I wish you to still welcome her warmly. And now she shall be sorted into the appropriate house."

Whispers broke out all over the Great Hall. Students from all houses were giving looks of distrust or fear. Professor McGonagall called Beth forward and placed the Sorting Hat on her head. _Mmm, yes. Right into Slytherin you go, after all you…_

"No!" Beth realized she shouted this aloud and blushed with embarrassment.

_Calm down now, dear. No need to be shouting out for everyone to hear. Just speak to me with your thoughts._

_I don't want to be in Slytherin. I don't belong there. I have friends in Gryffindor and…_

_Oh, if you think that just because your friends are in that house that I'll be putting you there as well, you can think again, miss. Bravery is the mark of Gryffindor and I haven't seen the slightest bit in you. No, Slytherin is where you belong._

Beth looked over at the Slytherin table. They all looked so solemn and lonely. She glanced over at a girl with long, shiny black hair and intense blue eyes. She bore an interested smirk as she stared back at Beth. Next to her sat a boy with greasy black hair and sallow skin. He looks okay, I guess. Beth shook her head. _No, no, what am I thinking? No, I can't be in Slytherin. I'm not cut out for that house. Please I really need to be with my friends. I'm very close with them and…_

The Sorting Hat cut her off again. _Ah, well if you're the loyal type you belong in Hufflepuff then. But I'm still strongly leaning towards the Slytherin House. Unless, of course, you think that you're more brave than cunning…_

_My, my, you are being quite rude interrupting me like this, but I definitely am brave! I promise I can prove to you that I'm brave. Mr. Ollivander, himself, said I would be a great witch. I can do this. Please give me a chance._

_Well_, the hat said conceding defeat, _if you really believe that you belong in Gryffindor, I suppose I can bend the rules. And so I say it's…_"Gryffindor!"

Everyone in the Great Hall applauded enthusiastically, while Lily, her friends, and the Marauders began whooping and hollering their excitement and congratulations.

Beth returned the hat and went to join her friends at the Gryffindor table.

"Glad to see you're at our table, Beth." Remus stated with relief, as he put his arm around her shoulder to give her a quick hug.

When Beth looked down the table, she saw Dia staring at her with narrowed eyes. Alice followed Beth's gaze and nudged her roommates. They turned their heads and watched as Dia glared at Beth for a few more minutes, but then went back to her dinner. "We'll talk about this later," Morwenna whispered to her friends.

"Beth, dig in. The food is getting cold." Sirius slopped some mashed potatoes on his plate.

Beth stared in amazement at all the food laid before the students. Never had she seen so much food in one sitting. She ate slowly as she began to remember her previous argument with the Sorting Hat.

"Hey, Beth, are you okay? You don't look so good." Remus asked with concern.

Beth's mind was still on the sorting and Dia. "Huh? Oh, it's just that I practically had to beg the Sorting Hat to let me in Gryffindor." She was careful not to let it slip that it had wanted to put her in Slytherin. "I guess I have a lot to prove to everyone…" She trailed off in a whisper.

What came out of her mouth next was a surprise to everyone. "When I was up there being sorted, I saw a boy at another table. He was interesting to say the least. Greasy black hair and a pale face. He looked rather alone…"

The boys choked on their food. "Oh that's Sniv-Snape, need to watch out for him, remember?" Sirius reminded her.

"I expect he's been quite lonely since his little "friends" finally got their ugly faces out of Hogwarts." James added.

"Too right you are, James. I expect it won't be much fun for him now that he has to bear the brunt of the pranks from us, the famous Marauders."

"But doesn't Snape…I mean Severus have any other friends?"

The Marauders doubled over laughing at this question. "That git doesn't need any friends." Sirius began but was cut off by the ending of dinner.

They began to head out of the Great Hall when a familiar voice rang out. "Mr. Potter, may I have a quick word?"

**  
As Beth, Lily, Remus, Sirius, Peter and the other girls headed back to the Gryffindor common room, James caught up with them.

"So what did Professor Dumbledore need you for, James?" Beth watched as James ran his hand through his untidy black hair for what must have been the fiftieth time since she had met him two weeks before.

"Let's get our school bags, and I'll let you know on the way there."

"On the way where, Pot…" Lily questioned, but James put his finger over her lips.

"Uh, uh, uh, Miss Lily. Remember we're supposed to be working together. So first name basis from now on, okay?" James gave a small, but still arrogant smile.

Lily rolled her eyes. _Humph, will he ever change his ways?_

"Um, James, where…?" Dorcas tried to ask him again.

James put one finger up to his mouth to silence them all. They quickly retrieved their things and followed him. When they were again about to ask him what was happening, he stopped in the middle of the corridor by a stretch of blank wall across from the tapestry containing Barnabas the Barmy.

"The Room of Requirement," he said distinctly. "It allows us to go somewhere where we cannot be found. I suppose Dumbledore thought it would be a great place to tutor Beth. All we have to do is walk past this bit of wall three times, concentrating hard on what we need."

The students walked up and down the wall, thinking of all the things that would be helpful when tutoring Beth. A polished door appeared in the wall.

"Dumbledore always thinks of everything." Remus responded, taking the brass handle and opening the door to reveal a spacious room lit with flickering torches.

**  
Now that they were in the Room of Requirement, Lily took charge and decided that about a ½ hour in each subject to learn the basics would be sufficient for the night.

Beth began with Charms and at the end of a ½ hour, she was successfully able to levitate a feather. This was encouraging to Beth and everyone else as well.

Next was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Beth seemed most determined to get through this subject probably because of the death of her family. She soon could easily disarm everyone who came up against her. Remus even started on the most simple of jinxes before his time expired.

James started her on Transfiguration. This subject proved to be more difficult for Beth but she did manage to turn her toothpick into a needle though it was a bit too flexible to be a real needle.

Morwenna and Peter decided to skip boring her with historical facts until a later date, and instead Alice and Dorcas showed her many magical plants and their uses.

"So, what about potions?" Lily tried to approach the subject carefully, knowing it was a sore point for both James and Sirius and perhaps to a lesser extent Remus.

"We can teach her ourselves!" Sirius cried indignantly and with finality.

Beth tried to further the conversation. "But didn't Professor Dumbledore say that Severus was to teach me?"

"No, no. We do not need that git laying hands on you. We can manage on our own. It's not like Potions is so important anyway," he said, as if that had settled the matter.

Instead they looked up at the ceiling, which had turned into a smaller version of the Great Hall exposing all the stars in the sky.

"Now there's Canis majora which includes Sirius, the star I was named after," he said, proudly.

And soon they fell asleep lying next to each other.

**  
"Oh great Merlin!" Lily sat up quickly, realizing that they were still in the Room of Requirement and that classes would be starting soon. "Wake up, everyone!" The other four girls stirred and sat up. The boys kept on sleeping. "Oh, for Merlin's sake!" Lily exclaimed and all 5 girls hit the boys with pillows that seemed to have appeared overnight.

The boys sat up, still quite groggy until they too realized that they needed to be in class very soon. "Ergh, we don't even have time to go back to the common room to wash up and change, let alone have breakfast." Peter gathered up his things

"Well if Sirius hadn't been droning on about the stars we would be there right now ready for classes." Morwenna tried to point out.

"Actually no," Sirius argued, "We would be down in the Great Hall feeding our faces. I'm hungry," he whined.

"Oh, shut it, Sirius. You'll have to go hungry until lunch. Now what are we going to do with Beth? Should we risk taking her back to the common room and face McGonagall's wrath?"

"James, I'm sure I'll be fine. I'm pretty sure I can find my way back to the common room. You guys go on and get to class. I'll see you at lunchtime." This was one of the few times that they had seen Beth speak up for herself. They were so used to do everything for her.

"I suppose we should be letting Beth do things on her own. How will she ever survive if you _boys_ don't stop babying her? It's not that long of a walk, and we really need to go now." Dorcas settled the issue.

Beth said goodbye and began her short walk to the Gryffindor tower. She was too busy thinking about all the new things she had learned the night before to notice that someone was watching her.

Beth heard a throat being cleared. "Miss Spenser," the voice paused, "or Elizabeth, if I may call you that, a word?"

She looked up to see dark, cool eyes and that familiar greasy, black hair. "Oh!" She seemed surprised to see him. "Severus Snape, I've been told about you. You may call me Elizabeth, if you wish."

"All good things I'm sure," he replied sarcastically with a cold stare, knowing that she had made friends with his enemies, the Marauders.

"You needed to speak with me?" She asked, innocently.

"Yes. As you may know already, the Headmaster has asked me to tutor you in Potions. As reluctant as I was to do so, I agreed. We can meet in the dungeons classroom to learn how to make different potions that are required for you to know. The only consideration is when that will be."

"Well, how about Mondays after dinner?"

"Only one day? Surely, you will need more than just one day for the art that is potion making."

"Can we do just one day for now? I mean this is all so overwhelming. After all, just a week or so ago, I had no idea the magical world existed or that I was a witch." Beth cursed herself inwardly. _Why am I telling him this? This is exactly what my friends didn't want me to get into. I feel like I can trust Severus though._

Severus tried to nod sympathetically. "So Monday after dinner, then?" He confirmed.

"Yes, I look forward to it, Severus."

He looked at her suspiciously. "I'm sure."

**  
The petite 16-year-old sat on her bed, waiting for her friends to return from morning classes. _I'm not sure what my friends were on about Severus. He seemed nice enough though he could stand to wash his hair and smile once in a while._

Beth yawned. _Wow, I guess I'm really tired from all the new magic I learned yesterday. Perhaps a nap wouldn't hurt._

How wrong she was…

_There was the sweet, brown-haired boy that had saved her. And she was sitting right next to him, laughing gaily. They were studying late into the night, Beth to take the special exam given by Dumbledore to find out whether she would be able to pass into the 7__th__ year at Hogwarts. She looked up from her book and sighed. Remus smiled encouragingly at her. She began to laugh almost maniacally. Suddenly her face became long and angular and her hair grew longer and darker. Dia was now sitting next to Remus with a cold, high-pitched laugh, and then she leaned over and kissed him…_

"No!" Beth whispered. She opened her eyes and looked around to see that she was still in her and the other girls' room.

"Oh my!" She exclaimed, her breathing heavy. "What a dream. It doesn't make sense to me though. I have so much to learn. I'm sure that I would understand if I knew more about magic. How am I ever going to get through this year? Even with all my friends' help, how will I ever learn enough to pass into 7th year? Why did I ever agree to take on so much?" Beth sighed.

As Beth tried to calm herself from the dream, the door to the dormitory burst open, and her cousin, Dia, strolled in. Beth sat up, wearing a look of faint surprise.

"I can't believe you're here." Dia said coldly. "After all that I've been through, living with your dumb Muggle-loving grandparents for 11 years. I was the witch, not you! You were the Squib, but you still got all the attention. No one cared about me!" Dia's face was red, and tears began to form in the corners of her eyes.

Beth thought back to all the times she had been to visit Grandmum and Granddad Spenser. She had known that Dia's parents and grandparents didn't come around to see her much. Dia had said that they claimed that they were too busy with other affairs to visit. _Poor Dia. It seems like her family didn't want her around. But my family liked her. And so did I. Well, up until she started her regular torture of me._

Dia quickly wiped her tears away. "I was so relieved when you didn't get a letter to Hogwarts and ecstatic when I got mine a year later. It meant I could come here and finally be rid of you and your family. They got what they deserved as far as I'm concerned."

Beth gasped at the last comment. She could feel the anger and hurt building in her. _How dare she say that about my family! They took care of her!_

Dia pulled out her wand. "Tell me, Elizabeth, how is it that you quite suddenly turned up at Hogwarts as a witch?"

"I don't know, Dia. This is much a shock to me as it is to you." Beth's cousin eyed her suspiciously.

"I'm not by any means pleased that you're here, Elizabeth. I don't want you at Hogwarts. Nevertheless you are here. However, I refuse to allow you to mess up my life again."

_I really don't understand Dia. I haven't done anything to her and yet she blames me for everything. I didn't make her family ignore her. I didn't tell my family not to give her the love she so deserves._ Beth gasped in surprise, as she suddenly found her cousin's wand pointing directly in her face.

"I want you to stay away from him, Elizabeth." Dia glared coldly at her.

"Who?" Beth asked, confused by the change in topic.

"You know very well who. Remus Lupin, if I can't have him, then why should you," she hissed.

Beth finally caught her drift. "But we're just friends, Dia!" she insisted

"Friends!" Dia spat angrily. "Did you know that we only just broke up a few days ago? I saw you with him the other night when he tried to defend you to me and then again yesterday at dinner when he was congratulating you on making it into bloody Gryffindor. I know the truth now. I can see it in his eyes. He likes _you_." Her face filled with disgust.

"Again you manage to steal away my happiness. I really meant it when I said that you should have died with your family. Then I wouldn't have had to worry about dealing with you now. Remember our little games when we were younger, Elizabeth?" Beth winced vividly recalling them. "Let me jog your memory so that maybe you'll think twice when it comes to… Ergh!" she stopped abruptly.

A rat had jumped into Beth's lap, stood on its hind legs, and squeaked angrily at Dia. Beth gasped, and Dia stepped back in shock. "Figures you'd keep with such company, Elizabeth, the filth of the earth just like you."

Surprise, Beth's owl, flew in at that moment from her night's hunt and noticing that Beth was in trouble, set about to dive-bombing and pecking at Dia's head.

"Ouch, you stupid bird." She turned to go out the door and away from the animals. "Just remember my warning, Elizabeth. Stay away from Remus." She gave Beth a nasty look and left the room.

Beth breathed a sigh of relief as Surprise came to rest next to her on the bed. She thought out loud, "Dia doesn't scare me as much, now that I can defend myself with magic. I can deal with her. No one else really needs to know about this incident."

"Thank you, Surprise." She petted her on the head, as the owl hooted and nipped her finger affectionately.

Beth looked down at the rat in her lap. She didn't know quite what to think of this newcomer. She hesitantly put a hand on the rat to pet it. "And thank you to you too. You saved the day. But this will be our little secret, you hear?"

The rat squeaked. _First my dream and now Dia. What next?_

**  
Beth didn't have to worry much because the week and weekend passed by without any more trouble. She did not have any more dreams and soon began to push the first one aside. And Dia had not been able to corner her again, since her roommates stuck with her because they were suspicious of Dia. The Marauders also kept a close watch on Beth but for an entirely different reason. They knew that Snape would be around at some point to start tutoring Beth in Potions.

Monday came, and Beth was excited as well as nervous to start Potions. She sat with her roommates as well as with Remus and Peter at dinner, wondering what it would be like to make her first potion.

Sirius and James soon entered whispering excitedly to one another. They reached the Gryffindor table and sat down to grab some food quickly.

"Hey Remus, Peter, are you ready to start Prank # 523?" Sirius asked. Lily looked at him in horror. "Aww, don't worry, Lils. I promise it will be a good one."

She gave him a disgusted look. "Don't call me that! And somehow I doubt it."

"So who's the prank on this time?" Dorcas asked excitedly. Alice gave her a look that said, _Don't encourage them._

Both James and Sirius gave wide mischievous grins. "Snivellus and the other Slytherins, but mostly Snivellus," they replied.

Morwenna was about to say something when Beth came out of her trance and interrupted. "Oh! I should go soon. I'm having my first potions lesson with Severus tonight."

"Tonight? When did this happen?" James asked, incredulous.

"Oh, that morning when you were all late for class, and I walked back to Gryffindor tower. He stopped me and asked when would be a good time to start. That's all right isn't it? One night a week for now?"

"For now? It most certainly isn't all right with us…" Sirius began.

"Is everything all right, Elizabeth? Are these dunderheads giving you a hard time?"

Beth looked up to see Severus Snape holding his wand ready to strike if need be. "Oh, yes, everything's fine. Shall we go study some Potions?" She got up quickly and gathered her things. "Bye, Remus, Peter, girls." She gave them all a small smile. "See you later tonight." And she disappeared out of the Great Hall with Severus right behind.

"Hey, she didn't say goodbye to us. That was rather rude, eh, James?"

Remus interrupted trying to sound logical, but he was also concerned. "Well it is rather rude of you to tell her who she can and can't associate with. Relax, he's just teaching her Potions. She needs to pass Dumbledore's exam to advance to 7th year. Dumbledore chose Snape because he knows he is capable of tutoring her, and he trusts him to do a job well done. Be glad I'm teaching her Defense instead of Snape."

James and Sirius muttered their agreements.

**  
Severus watched as Beth sat down at a table in the chilly dungeons classroom and got out her Potions book. Last week, he had received a letter back from Lucius Malfoy about Beth after he had told him about the new girl's appearance at Hogwarts. 'She is a very special witch,' Lucius had said, and he wanted Severus to not only keep an eye on her but try to befriend her quickly. Not being a very social person, Severus wondered how he could possibly pull off such a feat. He was also thinking of Lily and how he had messed up his friendship with her last year after he accidentally called her a mudblood. He really hadn't meant to call her such a foul name but he had been angry with Potter and Black for bullying him but he certainly didn't want anyone to come to his aid, especially a girl. He would have never heard the end of it from the two Gryffindor pricks. Severus knew that Lily was becoming acquainted with Elizabeth and perhaps if she liked him well enough she would talk to Lily for him.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, you will hardly believe this is magic. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death." Beth looked up with her eyebrow raised.

Severus frowned. _This isn't working._ He continued with his rehearsed statements. "I'm considering a career in teaching after I finish at Hogwarts, possibly Potions but I would rather go for Defense. I don't know if the position will be open though. Well, if I did teach Potions that would be my first speech. What do you think?" _Bloody hell, this isn't working. How did I let Lucius talk me into this? I don't get how he never has any problems trying to charm the girls. This is not my thing._

"Well, it's certainly an interesting speech." Severus looked on as Beth seemed to be considering him for a moment. "You know, Severus, you're really not all bad as everyone makes you out to be."

_What the hell is that supposed to mean? Come on, Slytherins are always quick with their thinking…quick thinking. She's talking about her bloody Gryffindor friends._ Snape's upper lip curled.

"Yes, well, first impressions can be deceiving. Especially when you're as close-minded as your little friends are. There has always been a war of rivalry between the Slytherin and Gryffindor houses. And the _Gryffindors_ always seem to think that they need to get one up on us, as if covering for their insecurities, by being better in classes or pranking us into humiliation. It is most entertaining to see them fail as they often do because they can't possibly ever be better than us. Especially not when we have the upper hand. And it seems that at the moment we do." His face was smug.

_Damn, I shouldn't have said that. I'm supposed to be getting her to like me._ Severus didn't stand by to watch her become indignant, but instead he immediately tried to diffuse the situation. Of course he needn't have as Beth was rather sympathetic and not at all conditioned to hate Slytherins. "Does everyone include Lily? Did she say anything bad about me?"

"Lily? You're on a first name basis? Are you friends?" Beth was curious. Out of all her friends, only Lily had called Severus by his first name, but she had assumed that was because she was a very kind soul, even if she fought with James and Sirius constantly, and James more so.

"Well," he considered his words carefully, "we did consider ourselves friends. We grew up in the same neighborhood and hung out together. But when we came to Hogwarts and were sorted in different houses, it was a little more difficult to stay connected, but we managed every so often. Until last year when Potter and Black were up to their usual tricks, Lily tried to defend me, but I—was angry with those Gryffindor gits and I accidentally called her a name, a rather foul name. I was sorry the second I said it but I couldn't take it back, and she's been cross with me ever since."

Severus hesitated to go on. "If you ever find yourself alone with Lily and my name comes up, perhaps you could tell her that I'm sorry and I miss her?" He looked down, afraid to hear Beth's answer.

"Of course, Severus. I understand how difficult it is to make and keep friends. I can definitely do that for you." She looked down to commence with reading her book. "Can we start on the first potion? I'm eager to begin learning."

Severus was slightly bewildered at her kindness and her indifference to some of his more negative comments, but he was glad for it. _Well, I've done Lucius a service. I haven't exactly made friends with her but I haven't made an enemy out of her either. _He looked over at Beth, considering her closely for a moment while she shifted under his calculating gaze. "Alright, first we will…"

**  
Beth stayed with Severus for the next 3 hours, learning the different ingredients and their uses. Then she worked on a simple potion to cure boils. All the while, Snape gave her directions and tips to help her improve.

"Wow, this is sort of fun. I can't wait to study a new potion."

_Hmm, she's interested in Potions. I can use this to my advantage. _"Perhaps if we commenced at the same time on another day," he urged, "I can teach you more then."

"Oh, I don't know. I've got so many subjects as it is. It's about one each day for me. Charms is tomorrow with Transfiguration on Wednesday, Defense on Thursday," Beth counted off on her fingers, "Astronomy and Magical Creatures on Friday, Herbology on Saturday, and History on Sunday."

Snape moved a bit closer, trying to intimidate but persuade her into giving in. "Don't worry, Elizabeth." _Hmm, if she's being tutored by those who are the best in each subject then…yes, Wednesday will be best. _ "Transfiguration is not that important as you think it is. I'll show you a few things when you come."

"But I really can't. James would be so upset with me." A smirk appeared on Severus' face. _I was right!_

"Trust me, Elizabeth. Potter will be too busy to remember your lessons. Haven't you noticed he's a bit arrogant and conceited? You're just another patch on his already quilted and overstuffed ego." He put his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sure his patience will run out on you before long, and then who would you have for your Transfiguration tutor?"

Beth looked down at the hand on her shoulder. _What he's saying does make a little sense, but from what Alice, Dorcas, and Morwenna have told me, James seems to have changed a bit since I've met him. _She began to gather her potions equipment as Severus took his hand away.

_James and Sirius are always trying to protect me from Severus. But why? He's always nice to me, even if he does act odd sometimes. Why do they think they can teach me? Could they really give me as much instruction in Potions as Severus has? There must have been a reason Dumbledore wanted him to teach me. _She packed things away in her bag.

_And Dorcas was complaining about James holding Quidditch practice almost every night. It sounds like he'll be awfully busy. I wonder if he'll even have time to tutor me. That's the toughest subject I've got, so I'll need all the help I can get from him. Well, if he's going to be so busy this week maybe it will be okay to meet twice a week with Severus just this once._

The Slytherin was beginning to wonder if she'd ever answer him. "Okay, Severus, I'll meet you here after dinner on Wednesday." And with that she put away her book and left for the Gryffindor common room.

Severus watched her go. _I don't know how I did that. Severus Snape 1, Potter 0. Lucius will be pleased._

**  
When Beth arrived in the Gryffindor common room at 9 o'clock, the Marauders and the girls – well at least the girls were working on their homework – and all were waiting with nervous anticipation. Morwenna worked on her Astronomy chart, while Dorcas practiced the recent charms they had learned.

Remus had his Potions essay out, Lily proofread her Transfiguration essay, and Alice helped Peter with Herbology. Sirius scribbled on a small piece of parchment, while James read his Defense book, though he seemed lost in thought.

Morwenna looked up from her finished Astronomy chart. "So how did your first lesson with Snape go?" she asked.

"It was fun. I learned a lot in such a short time. In fact, I'm meeting him again on Wednesday."

Everyone went silent. The girls as well as Remus, Peter, and Sirius gave each other uneasy glances.

James' head shot up. "What? But Wednesday is my day to tutor you in Transfiguration!" he exclaimed, exasperated.

_Uh oh, I can already see I've made a big mistake. _"I thought you might be a little busy with Quidditch and homework and all, so I was saving you the trouble of having to tutor me. I'm not very good at it anyway, and it's not as important as Potions."

James paled. "Potions? More—im-port-ant—than—Transfiguration?" He choked out. He looked as though he were about to die over such a thought.

Suddenly he stopped, and his face became red. "He told you that, didn't he? That git, that…" He mumbled a bunch of swear words that made Lily say, "James Potter!"

Beth blanched and stepped away. "I'm sorry, James, it's my fault. I shouldn't have agreed to meet more than once a week. It's just that I find Potions so interesting. I got caught up in the fascination."

"No, Beth." James argued. "You didn't realize what we meant when we tried to warn you what a conniving, little git Sniv-Snape is, though we tried to warn you about him. I know that wasn't all, though, was it? He said other things, didn't he?"

Beth looked scared as she saw James' anger building. "What do you mean?"

"Come on, Beth, don't try to protect Snape. He's not worth the scum mud on your shoes. He's always calling Lily foul names whenever we're not around. Just because he's taken a fancy to you doesn't mean we're going lay off of him in the slightest. In fact, his behavior makes us even more suspicious. James moved toward the portrait hole. "Ready to carry out Prank #523, Marauders?"

"No, Pot-James," Lily began in an effort to try to get James to calm down. "I really don't think you should go out there past curfew. What if you get caught by Filch or a teacher?"

James ran a hand through his hair in disbelief that Lily had just called him by his first name. He recovered quickly as he thought about Snape trying to take advantage of Beth, all because of his hatred for James and his friends. "It's nice of you to worry about me, Lily, but this is something of great importance that can't wait." He headed toward the entrance of the common room with Sirius and Peter close behind.

"Remus, are you coming?" Sirius asked.

He hesitated. "Uh, yeah." He turned his face away from Beth as he stood up. "I'm sorry, Beth. I know you're enjoying Potions and don't think Snape is so bad, but he's taking advantage of you to get back at us. We won't let him get away with it." And with that he hurried out the portrait hole to join the other Marauders.


	4. Whispers, Lies, and Suspicions

Chapter 4 Whispers, Lies, and Suspicions

As soon as Remus had climbed out of the portrait hole, he slipped under James' waiting cloak. "Let's hurry up and get this over with," he whispered.

"Come on Moony, I thought you would be thrilled at the chance to get revenge on Snivellus for trying to take advantage of Beth, considering you've taken a fancy to her," Sirius jabbed, hoping he could get Remus to admit his feelings, but the werewolf didn't answer and the silence ensued.

"Are we almost there, guys? We hadn't planned on doing this prank so late, and I don't want to get caught by anyone." Peter squeaked.

"Great Godric, Wormtail, what house are you in? Show some bravery for once." James complained and not for the first time during their school days.

"We're here," Remus informed them, "Everyone knows their part of the plan?" The other three boys nodded their heads.

The Marauders waited until one of the prefects came, and then they took their chance to slip into the Slytherin common room. Most of the students, it seemed were still downstairs working on their homework as the place was rather crowded. The 4 boys had a difficult time trying to weave their way through people without being noticed.

When they finally reached the entrances to the dormitories, James turned toward the girls' side and muttered the disarming spell they had found in one of the books in the Restricted section while they were doing the necessary research to become Animagi. The Marauders quietly slipped up the stairs and made their way through each dormitory bathroom whispering silencing charms on the sinks and showers so that they could turn the water on full blast. Every time they left a room they would seal off all the doors because they didn't want anyone to be the wiser until the full impact of what they had done set in.

After finishing with the girls' side they made their way through another small crowd of people doing their homework and set to finishing the prank on the boys' side. They had taken care of all the rooms except for the 6th years' dormitory, which they found to be open upon reaching the door.

The 4 Marauders watched as Snape grabbed a bath towel and made his way to the bathroom on the other side of the room. "Good, here's our chance." James smirked.

They stole into the room and over to Snape's wardrobe. They opened the first drawer to find his undergarments. Remus daringly pulled out a pair of knickers covered in cauldrons and potions flasks. "Wow, I never would have guessed," he chortled.

"Merlin, Moony, you're braver than I am. I'm not touching Snivellus' knickers," Sirius snorted.

"You will if we're going to finish this prank and get out of here without getting caught." Remus made it look like he was going to throw another pair of knickers, this one with Ashwinders and Runespoors, at Sirius' head.

"Okay, okay." They all took a bunch, throwing the cloak back over them to wait in a corner while Snape finished up in the bathroom. He came out a few minutes later, grabbed some of his school things, and made his way out of the room.

"Perfect timing," James whispered. The 4 boys quickly strode over to the bathroom before anyone else came in. They did the same handy spell work as in all the others, using Snape's knickers to block the sink drains.

"Now let's get out of here. I don't want to be caught after we've finished all this." Peter murmured. The others agreed.

Closing the door and muttering the sealing charm, the Marauders walked down the stairs hidden under James' cloak and shuffled their way toward the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Just before reaching there, the entrance opened and a burly seventh year came in, bumping into Peter. "Who's there?" he asked gruffly.

James, Sirius, and Remus pulled the boy to the side and out of the way of the Slytherin. When he walked away scratching his head, they were able to slip out of the common room unnoticed.

The boys walked as quickly as they could, trying to get back to Gryffindor tower before anyone noticed what they had done. They rounded a corner and were faced with Mrs. Norris. Most assuredly, Filch would be around there somewhere, and sure enough they soon heard his footsteps in the near distance.

"Isn't there a shortcut somewhere around here? I can never remember where or what the password is." Peter's voice shook with fear of being caught.

"It's right over here." James directed them over. "You're right though, Wormtail. It would be nice to have it all written down so we didn't have to remember, and also to have a way to tell where the teachers and Filch are at all times." He looked over at Sirius.

"What? Moony and I are working on it. It's some complicated stuff, but not as complicated as becoming Animagi so we should have everything completed within the year. Of course, we'd have more time to work on it if Moony wasn't so busy with Beth all the time."

"Padfoot, give it a rest, will you?" Remus growled. "And I don't hang out with Beth that much! Not anymore than you do!"

"Okay, but why can't you just admit that you like her? I mean you broke up with Dia because of her, right? And she must like you too if she spends a lot of time with you, so what's wrong with admitting it?"

"Padfoot…" Remus grumbled again.

"Alright, I get the picture. You don't want to talk about it. But…" Remus silenced Sirius with a charm. "Mmm, hmm, mmm, hmm."

"Thank you, Moony. He was getting on my nerves, too." James smiled as they continued along the shortcut. Sirius shot him a dirty look but didn't try to respond.

**While Prank #523 was in progress**

As soon as the girls watched the portrait close behind Remus, they went back to their homework. Beth remained standing, looking at the entrance to the common room.

Lily glanced up at her. "Uh, Beth, are you going to sit down with us to do your studies?"

Beth turned her head away from the portrait hole to face the girls. "Oh, no, I don't think so. I'm much too tired to concentrate." She paused. "They've done a lot of pranks then? What are they like? Are any of them dangerous? Is anyone likely to get hurt?" She looked severely bothered by the whole prank idea.

All 4 girls lifted up their heads. "Some of them are dangerous, yeah. But if anyone does get hurt, it's never anything serious." Dorcas tried to reassure her. Beth merely frowned and shook her head in disapproval.

"Yeah," Alice agreed with Dorcas. "Nothing Madame Pomfrey couldn't cure."

"You look exhausted, Beth. Why don't you turn in for the night?" Morwenna suggested. The other 3 girls gave her sharp glances.

"You're right, Morwenna. I think I will." She gave one last glance at the portrait hole. "Goodnight, girls."

After Morwenna was certain that Beth had gone up to their dormitory and closed the door, she closed her books and put away her homework. "Good, now we can talk about what we saw at dinner the night of Beth's sorting. Anyone else have a suspicion that there might be something going on between her and her cousin, Dia?"

Everyone slowly nodded their heads and put their books away as well. "The look that she gave her must have been out of pure hatred." Alice put in.

"I think that there's something Beth isn't telling us." Dorcas frowned.

"But what would that be? Something about Dia from her past? Or maybe…there's something that Dia is up to right now." Lily offered her input.

"You think she's up to something right now?" repeated Alice. "How would she be able to do anything then? Beth's almost always with us."

"_Almost always_ is the key phrase there. So what are we going to do about our suspicions? I doubt Beth will tell us anything even if we ask. I think she would have said something by now if she needed or wanted our help." Dorcas looked at her friends, each one trying to come up with a solution to their problem.

"Remember how Dia reacted to Beth that first night she saw her? She was a totally different person from what we usually know her to be. And remember what Remus said about Dia suddenly caring about what other people thought? What if the Dia Lyons we see is not the whole picture? What if there's a dark side that we've never seen? And what if," Lily gulped, "Beth is the one who's on the receiving end?" She watched the other girls to see how they would respond.

"Then there's only one thing to do if Beth won't tell us." Everyone turned their attention toward Morwenna. "We need to find out in any way we can what Dia is really like behind closed doors. And if she's possibly threatening Beth. I think we might need a little help though. Maybe the Marauders can lend us a hand in all this business."

"What?" All the other girls were surprised by her suggestion.

Morwenna persisted with her idea. "Well, it makes sense doesn't it? If I know James as well as I think I do, and that's pretty well considering we grew up together, they'll have access to places and people that we don't. And I'm sure you've all noticed how protective they are of Beth. They treat her like a little sister. I wouldn't be surprised if they've already got a plan about Dia."

"It seems like the best idea we've got right now. It couldn't hurt to ask them. Hopefully they'll be back soon. I'm tired and we've got most of our classes tomorrow." Alice yawned.

**  
It was another 20 minutes or so before the Marauders made an entrance into the Gryffindor common room, thoroughly exhilarated with what they had done.

"Well, made it back safe and sound," Peter took a deep breath.

"Like we haven't always made it back unscathed." James responded.

"Actually, we've been caught by Filch quite a few times and by McGonagall even more often. And…" James interrupted Peter.

"Okay, Okay. We get the point." He mussed up his hair. "Hey look, the girls are waiting up for us." The 4 boys strode over to where the girls were stretched out on the chairs and couches in front of the fireplace. "Hey girls, you waiting up for us or something?" smirked James.

"Or something, is more like it. Why would we wait around for you lot?" Lily shot back at him.

James' smile became even wider. _The girls can't be staying up this late for any other reason. They had to have been waiting for us. Lily's just mad that I'm right._

Remus looked around at the 4 girls. "Where's Beth? Is she alright?"

"Yeah, she was tired so she went up to bed early, which is where we're headed pretty soon." Dorcas sat up in her chair.

"She…uh…wasn't mad about the prank, was she?" He asked, concerned.

"Beth wasn't mad, no," Alice answered honestly, "but she did seem bothered by it. Asked if anyone ever gets hurt."

Remus furrowed his brow. _Damn, why did I go? Now she's going to be upset with me, with us. But…I can apologize in the morning as soon as I see her and explain the prank, so she'll understand that it was harmless fun._

"I'm going upstairs to bed. We've got a long day of classes tomorrow." Remus turned quickly and disappeared up to the boys' dormitories.

"Uh oh, I know that look. He's worried about Beth and what she thought of the prank. He gets that look every time something doesn't go the way it should." Sirius sat down on the couch next to Morwenna. "So what have you girls been gossiping about?"

"We don't gossip," Alice retorted.

"Actually, James," Morwenna cut in, "we were wondering if you, Sirius, and Peter could help us with something." James sat down between Sirius and Lily.

"We've all been a little bit worried about Beth ever since we found out that Dia is her cousin. She seems to be hiding something about Dia," explained Dorcas.

"We think that there's more to Dia than meets the eye and that there's a possibility that she's threatening Beth." Lily continued. Peter looked nervous.

"Oh yeah, we're way ahead of you there," James stretched and tried to put his arm around Lily, who immediately pushed it away.

"Well then, if you're ahead of us, what have you done?" Lily asked impatiently.

"Peter's been looking out for her, haven't you Pete?" Sirius winked.

"Uh, yeah, I have." His voice shook.

"But how has he been able to do that?" Alice asked confused.

"We have our special ways," James gave them all a look that said, _We have a secret that we're never going to tell you._ "So Peter, has Beth been harassed by Dia at any time?" He looked to Pete for his answer.

"N-no, she hasn't," he lied.

"I'm still not satisfied. There's been loads of chances when Dia could have been near Beth while we were in class." Morwenna looked at all 3 boys in turn. "So are you going to help us or not?" she asked.

"Of course, we will," volunteered Sirius. "I don't think Dia liked us very much, and she tried to keep Remus to herself. We see Beth as our little sister, and we wouldn't want her to get hurt by anyone, especially Dia. And Remus, though he's never said, I think he fancies Beth, so he wouldn't want to see her hurt either."

"But," interrupted James, "We also have to keep in mind that he did at one point date Dia, and he might not want to get involved with this. So I'd say we should leave him and Beth both in the dark." James leaned forward. "Now, as for payment for our services, I think a…"

"What?" Dorcas replied incredulously. "Sirius just said that Beth is like your sister, so wouldn't keeping Dia away from her be payment enough?"

"Of course, of course," James waved her off, "but to make sure that we're able to get the job done I only ask one small favor and that would be for Lily to accompany me to Hogsmeade next weekend." He tried to put his arm around her again.

"No way, James Potter! Not on your life!" He attempted to pull her closer but Lily drew her wand and shot water in his face. "If you're going to be that way about it, we don't need your help!" She grabbed her books and ran up to their dormitory.

Sirius laughed at his mate and turned to Morwenna. "Ignore James, we'll help. We can talk about this later."

Morwenna nodded in agreement. She lifted her bag and stood up. Alice and Dorcas followed suit. As they walked toward the staircase, they looked back to see Sirius and Peter laughing and poking fun of James' misfortune.

When the girls reached the door to their dormitory, they saw Lily standing in the middle of the room.

"Lily, what's wrong?" whispered Alice. Lily put her finger to her lips. The four girls listened. They could hear muffled cries coming from Beth's four-poster.

"Beth, are you okay?" Dorcas called softly. Immediately there was silence. The girls looked at one another with concerned frowns upon their faces.

Lily called the other three over to her bed. "I think someone was in here just a few minutes before I arrived. I can't say for sure, but it could have been Dia." All four of them glanced at each other and nodded. They knew they needed to start their investigation and soon.

**  
The next day at breakfast was a solemn affair. Remus was busy worrying about what he would say to Beth when he apologized to her. And Beth was as quiet as ever barely answering questions sent her way by her 4 roommates. Even James, Sirius, and Peter were unusually silent.

As time passed, the girls became more exasperated in dealing with Beth. Finally, Alice decided she would be the brave one and come out with what they wanted to know.

"Beth, are you sure you're okay? You haven't talked to your cousin lately, have you?" Alice asked cautiously.

This question had the right effect. Beth's eyes became as wide as saucers. "No!" she whispered, but her eyes were full of fear.

Lily attempted to pursue the conversation. "You know it's okay to tell us if she's bothering you. It's not right for her to be picking on you. I don't care what you think; you haven't done anything to deserve her hatefulness of you."

Beth said nothing, her head drooping toward her neck. "Well, whenever you want or need to come tell us anything, we'll be here to listen," offered Morwenna.

As breakfast ended, Professor McGonagall came up behind James and Sirius. "Potter, Black, Lupin, Pettigrew, a week's worth of detention for your little prank last night!" Her eyes had dark circles under them. James and Sirius tried to protest that they had anything to do with it. The professor gave the two boys a stern look that silenced them.

"Don't try to argue with me. I have a source who overheard you discussing the prank. You caused an enormous mess that the teachers had to spend all night fixing, not to mention the 5 students you sent to the hospital wing. I'm very disappointed in your behavior. Fifty points from Gryffindor. You will report to my office every night after dinner." She moved down the table, behind Lily and Morwenna who were across from Beth, Alice, and Dorcas. "Miss Spenser, the…" she stopped. "Miss Spenser!" she called sharply.

Beth jumped, her head quickly rising to face Professor McGonagall's. "Yes, professor?"

"The headmaster wishes to see you in his office, if you'll follow me."

"Am I in trouble?" Beth asked fearfully.

"No, of course not, Miss Spenser," said Professor McGonagall impatiently.

Beth stood and quickly followed her out of the Great Hall, forgetting to say goodbye to her friends.

**  
As Beth and the Transfiguration teacher climbed the marble staircase in the entrance hall, the young girl became curious as to why Professor Dumbledore needed to see her. "Professor, did the headmaster say why he wanted to see me?"

"Yes, he has some important documents that were your parents he thought you should have and go through."

"Oh, okay." Beth breathed a sigh of relief.

When they had reached the gargoyle to Dumbledore's office, Professor McGonagall muttered the password. "I need to get to my classroom now, but just go up those stairs and knock on the door to let the headmaster know you've arrived."

Beth climbed the familiar stairs and knocked on the door. "Come in, Miss Spenser," Professor Dumbledore replied.

As she entered, he motioned toward a chair in front of his desk. "Please, have a seat." He pulled out a lock box from one of his drawers. "This was able to be retrieved from your parents' bank in Cranleigh. No doubt it contains valuables that your parents did not want to keep in their house. If you find anything of interest that maybe you think I should know about, please come and tell me."

"Uh, Professor Dumbledore, do you really think there will be anything of interest to you in here?"

The Headmaster gazed at her through his half-moon spectacles. "You never know, Miss Spenser. One never knows until they do."

Beth thought the professor's statement was rather odd but said nothing about it. "Okay, I'll let you know. I'm going to go put this somewhere safe." She turned toward the door.

"Miss Spenser, is there something bothering you? If I may say so, you don't look well." He looked at her with concern.

"Yes," she lied, "I'm fine."

"Well, if you do start to feel under the weather, don't hesitate to visit Madame Pomfrey in the infirmary, and she can give you something to help."

Beth nodded and left the headmaster, who wore a small frown on his face.

_I have a little bit of time to take this back to Gryffindor Tower and start going through it before lunch. Maybe Professor Dumbledore's right and there is something that would be of interest to him. Like why I've never shown signs of magic before now or how I came to be at Hogwarts after the attack._

These thoughts cheered Beth considerably. She thought so much about finding all the answers to her questions that she didn't pay attention to where she was walking and bumped right into another 6th year, a Slytherin.

"Watch it, Spenser." The girl with long, black hair surveyed her with intense blue eyes. "I'm so glad that Severus has decided to take you under his wing to tutor you. Maybe he can also teach you what "real" friends are." The girls sneered.

"I'm Marcia Griggs." She held out her hand for Beth to shake.

_Who does she think she is? There's nothing wrong with my friends. What's everyone's problem around here? Why exactly do the Slytherins hate Gryffindors so much? It's got to be about more than just grades or pranks, like Severus said._

Beth looked up at Griggs and didn't take her hand. "I can decide who my friends are for myself, thank you." She replied a little more nastily than she had wanted.

"You would do well to remember your superiors, Spenser." Griggs narrowed her eyes. "I thought it would have been nice to have you in Slytherin. That's what I had been hoping for when you had the Sorting Hat on your head. But now I'm not so sure that would have been the best thing, especially if you're going to stomp around with a Gryffindor temper, claiming to be better than everyone else!" She snapped.

_What is it with this girl? It's that Gryffindor-Slytherin thing again!_ "But I never said that. I don't think that I'm better than anyone else!" She insisted fruitlessly.

"Quiet, little one, daughter of a Squib, and granddaughter of Muggle-loving fools," hissed Griggs. _Why does everyone keep bringing up my heritage? Why does it seem so important to everyone?_

"Be quiet and listen because you have much to learn about the magical world." The bell rang. Soon many students would be pouring out of their classrooms.

Griggs pulled her close. "Listen to me, Spenser, things have been a certain way around here for a long time. People come to Hogwarts at 11 and leave when they're about 17 or 18. There's nothing special about any of us. You can't come in here and expect to do the impossible. You'll fail sooner or later along the way. Then not even your sorry little Gryffindor friends will help you or want you around."

Students from all 4 houses began filling the corridor. "Watch yourself, Spenser." Griggs sneered and pushed her into a crowd of Hufflepuff 2nd years.

A few girls shrieked and some boys gasped in surprise. Beth was a little disoriented from being thrown down, and she did not get up right away. "Are you okay?" asked a boy, who wasn't much shorter than Beth.

She looked up into the Hufflepuff faces. There was a collective intake of breath. Whispering among the group of students began.

"It's that Spenser girl…"

"Do you know what I heard about her…?"

"Did you know she's…?"

The 6th year Gryffindor jumped up, not wanting to hear anymore. The crowd of Hufflepuff students took a step away from her, as if they could be afraid of someone who was barely taller than they were and some were even taller than her.

Beth held the lock box close to her and ran as fast as she could to Gryffindor Tower. She didn't stop until she was able to put it safely away and leave the confines of her dormitory to return to the common room. She was just coming down the last stair when she ran into the person who was standing there.

Remus kept her from falling to the floor. "You know, Beth, you've really got to stop trying to knock me over. One of these days you're going to hurt yourself." He smirked, hoping she would at least smile at him, even if she didn't talk. His mind was still on the trouble that their last prank had caused with her.

Beth blushed but smiled nonetheless. "Oh, hi Remus. I was just going to find you…I mean everyone for lunch."

"Well they're all down in the Great Hall already. I wanted to talk to you about something."

"You do?" Beth bit her lip and looked around nervously.

They walked toward the entrance to the common room. "Yeah, I just wanted to apologize for the way the guys and I acted yesterday with the prank and all." He smiled sheepishly, hoping she would forgive him for acting like such as prat.

"Oh, that's what you wanted to talk to me about?" She asked, surprised and relieved that he didn't mention anything else.

"Yeah," replied Remus, a little bewildered that Beth wasn't at all angry or upset. "Well I wanted to explain what the prank was, so that you'd understand and wouldn't w…worry. Beth, is something wrong? Have you been having trouble sleeping again?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, I'm okay. I've been having some nightmares but nothing to worry about really." She assured him.

"Well if you're having trouble sleeping you can always go see Madame Pomfrey, and I'm sure she can give you something to help you sleep better."

"I don't…" She stopped, seeing a figure out of the corner of her left eye that was standing at the bottom of the girls' staircase. "On second thought, can we go right now? I'm suddenly not feeling well. You can tell me about the prank on the way there." And with that she took off toward the portrait hole.

Remus turned his head toward the girls' dormitory. Dia was there smiling at him and giving a little wave. A wave of guilt washed over Remus. He smiled politely back and then followed Beth out into the corridor. _Of course it's just my luck to be caught talking to my ex's cousin! I never meant to hurt Dia. How was I supposed to know that Beth was her cousin? I can't help how I feel about Beth. Things like this happen. It's a part of life._ Remus tried to convince himself not to feel guilty but failed miserably.

**  
The rest of the Marauders as well as Lily, Alice, Dorcas, and Morwenna sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table so they could talk without being overheard.

"Good idea, Dorcas, sending Remus to go get Beth," complimented Alice.

"Yeah well how else would we get to talk about Beth and Dia?" She replied.

"Alright so how are we going to conduct this investigation? What do you want us to do?" James asked, thoroughly put out by not being able to go with Lily to Hogsmeade.

"Well, has Dia had any other boyfriends before Remus? You could go and talk to them, see what she was like personality-wise with them," suggested Morwenna.

James sighed. "I'm sure that'll be loads of fun." He rolled his eyes. "Can't we just hex her so she'll leave Beth alone?"

"No," Lily replied through gritted teeth.

"We don't have any definite proof that she's even doing anything wrong, so no you can't hex anyone." Alice took another spoonful of stew.

"He's not going to hex anyone anyway." Lily turned to James. "Haven't you figured out yet that that's not the way to go about dealing with people?"

James looked at Lily for a moment but didn't say anything. He turned his head away to take a drink from his goblet. "So who's going to be in charge of looking after Beth then?" He gave Peter a significant nod, who nodded slowly in return.

"I think Dorcas has the right idea." Morwenna put in. "Keeping Remus and Beth together as much as possible will not only ensure Beth's safety, but hopefully it will also draw out Dia's anger."

"Maybe we'll even be able to catch her in the act of threatening Beth!" said Alice excitedly. "I mean seeing Beth's reaction at breakfast, there has to be something like that going on between them."

"Don't you remember after the sorting, Beth said that she had to beg the hat to let her into Gryffindor? Maybe she thinks that she should handle Dia on her own to prove her bravery." Dorcas grabbed some treacle tart to put on her plate.

Lily snorted. "She's definitely proving something, and it's not bravery. Foolishness is more like it. She's just starting magic. She can't possibly think that she can handle Dia on her own." The red-haired girl shook her head.

"I wonder what house the Sorting Hat did want to put her in if not Gryffindor," thought Sirius out loud.

"Hello," Beth greeted everyone cheerily, both her and Remus coming up behind Sirius and Dorcas.

Sirius jumped and swung himself around. His surprise soon turned into a smirk. "Hi. And where have you two been all this time?"

The two blushed. "Uh, hospital wing?" answered Beth.

"Hospital wing?" His smile grew wider. "You're not sure if you were there?"

Remus stepped on the foot Sirius had available to him, causing him to stop smiling. "Yes, Sirius, we were in the infirmary, so that Beth could get a potion to help with her nightmares."

"Nightmares, Beth? You're having trouble sleeping?" Lily raised her eyebrow.

"Uh, yes. I didn't want to tell anyone, didn't want to bother you with them." Beth lied to her friends for the second time that day.

"Nightmares, my arse, unless you count Dia as a nightmare," Dorcas muttered to Alice, who stifled a giggle.

"You better get some food before lunch is over." Peter spoke up.

"You're right, Peter, I'm starving." Beth sat down on the other side next to Morwenna, and Remus sat between her and Peter, across from Sirius and James. "What's for lunch today anyway?"

Sirius took a big spoonful of stew and put it in his mouth. "Mmm, bat wing stew, very tasty."

Beth scrunched up her face in disgust. "That's gross. Do they…?"

"No, Beth," Remus answered her quickly. "Sirius was joking. It's lamb stew."

The two newcomers began eating what they could before lunch ended. Beth was in the middle of finishing off her pumpkin juice when Morwenna asked what she planned on doing for the afternoon while she waited for them to finish classes.

Beth thought of Dia spotting her and Remus in the common room. "I think I might go to the library to study, you know get more familiar with the place. Maybe the librarian…" she stopped.

"Madame Pince," offered Peter.

"Yes, maybe Madame Pince can show me around the library."

"I'm sure she'll love that," Sirius replied bitterly.

"Don't mind him," Dorcas laughed. "Sirius and James were banned from the library after last year.

"Yeah we still haven't figured out what you did." Alice looked at the two.

"Never telling a soul," James insisted innocently.

Beth turned to Lily. "Lily, when do you have time to tutor me in charms?"

"Well I have prefect duty tonight at 9. But if we all meet for dinner, you and I can go to the room after and start then." Following lunch, Beth headed to the library and everyone else went to their afternoon classes.


	5. Binding and Bonding

Chapter 5 Binding and Bonding

Beth and Lily met shortly after dinner in the Room of Requirement to continue Beth's charms lessons. Lily pulled a piece of parchment out of her bag. It contained a list of charms that Beth would be studying each month. The red-head had urged her friends to do the same with their subjects. The girls had emphatically agreed and immediately set to the task. The Marauders were a different story however. Remus, of course, complied as he felt the idea very useful, and Morwenna helped Peter with the History of Magic list. James and Sirius, on the other hand, didn't think they needed to do something so unnecessary.

"Okay, Beth, you've got levitation of light objects down. Let's try some heavier things." Lily laid out some of her and Beth's school books. "Go ahead. Try these."

"Wingardium Leviosa." Beth tried levitating each book in turn, and then Lily began to stack books on top of each other, first two and then three at a time.

The brunette managed to lift 7 stacked books before her concentration was broken, and the books toppled to the floor.

"Great, Beth," Lily complimented her. "You're pretty good at charms."

"Thank you. I find that it's my easiest and best subject. See watch this." She pointed her wand at Lily. "Wingardium Leviosa."

Lily felt herself being lifted off the ground. The spell, unfortunately, expired when she was about five feet off the ground. She landed on her feet but lost her balance and fell to the floor with an, "Oof."

"Ohh, I'm so sorry, Lily! I shouldn't have been so confident as to try to levitate people yet." Beth helped Lily up on her feet.

"No, it's not your fault, Beth. It's just that that spell only works up to a certain height. For people, a better spell to use would be Mobilicorpus. According to our list, we'll be learning those at the start of next term. Looks like you're got a handle on the Wingardium Leviosa spell. Let's move onto the Alohomora charm"

Lily set up many different objects, such as trunks, and doors even appeared for Beth to attempt the unlocking charm. For the remaining time that the two had, they went over engorgement as well as reduction charms. Beth had just finished reducing a chocolate frog the size of a watermelon, when a timer went off signifying the end of their lesson.

Beth took a bite of the chocolate frog's head. "Mmm, this is delicious. I haven't been able to satisfy my sweet tooth lately." She took another bite, this time a leg.

"There's a Hogsmeade trip this weekend. I'll bring you back some frogs and other things you might like if you want." Lily replied, packing up her books.

Beth followed her lead knowing Lily would need to go to her prefect duties soon. "That sounds like fun. I know I haven't been here long, but don't I get to go too?"

Lily shook her head. "No, sorry, school rules. You have to have a signed permission slip from a parent or guardian, no exceptions."

"Oh, well," the brunette looked disheartened, "we better get back to the common room so you can drop off your books and start prefect duties."

"Yeah, this is the worst part of the job. Be lucky that you aren't one. One night a week Remus and I have to patrol the castle with the Hufflepuff 7th year prefects, looking for rule-breakers and any suspicious activity. The most annoying part of the night is that Remus seems to turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to his friends' nightly excursions around the castle, which sometimes turn out to be very dangerous. Case in point, last night's prank." Lily frowned.

"What? It wasn't dangerous. Sort of funny actually. Remus explained it all to me. They blocked all the sinks, using some with Severus' knickers, so that all the rooms would flood. Can you imagine Severus' knickers floating by you with cauldrons and potions bottles on them?" Lily's face contorted simultaneously with disgust and amusement. "That's like a 7-year-old having footballs on his knickers."

Lily gave a small smile. They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. "I'll see you tomorrow. For next week, I want a roll of parchment on the benefits and drawbacks of engorgement as well as reduction charms. And practice all the charms whenever you can to get better at them."

They entered the common room together. Beth joined the other girls doing their homework, while Lily dropped off her things in her room. Then the red head gave a quick goodbye before meeting Remus outside the common room to begin their long night.

**  
The next morning or afternoon as it happened to be, Beth woke up from a restless night of bad dreams. There was one in particular that she remembered.

Beth was 10 years old. Dia had her tied to the wardrobe again. She was making fun of Beth's magical abilities. Her parents' lock box appeared in the room, and it was trying to bite her. She attempted to get away but couldn't because she was tied down. Dia was laughing. Her laugh was the same high-pitched voice she had heard before. Beth shuddered at the thought of the dream. _Voldemort's laugh._

The 16-year-old looked at the clock on Alice's bedside table. 1:12. _Well I've missed breakfast and lunch. Guess I'll have to wait till dinner._ Her stomach grumbled. Beth got up and rummaged through her trunk to find another chocolate frog from the previous night's lessons.

"I suppose I should work on the essay Lily assigned me, so I don't get behind." Surprise, who was sitting on the perch in her cage, hooted in agreement. Beth quickly pulled out her books, some parchment, her quill, and ink bottle. She set up on the floor beside her bed, which was hidden from the door. She didn't need Dia making any more sudden appearances and bothering her while she was trying to study.

Sometime later when Beth looked at Alice's clock again, it read 4:20. Seconds after, she could her girls' voices coming up the steps. The door to their dormitory opened letting in her 4 roommates. Beth breathed a sigh of relief.

The girls put their books down and found to their surprise that Beth was sitting on the floor in a well hidden position.

"Beth, what are you doing sitting like that?" Morwenna asked.

"Oh, um, I just thought that this would give me more light to work on the essay Lily gave me." Beth tried to come up with a quick and believable answer.

Morwenna looked to Lily, who shrugged and turned toward Beth. "So that was the only reason you're sitting like that?" Lily prompted Beth for more information.

"Well, yes of course, why else would I be doing something like this? Hiding from Dia?" Beth laughed nervously.

"Are you?" Dorcas asked, giving her a questioning stare.

"No! Of course not. Why would I have to hide from my own cousin?" Beth answered, though she was not looking at any of the girls.

"Because she's jealous that you're hanging out with her ex-boyfriend." Alice responded. "And Remus likes you now and not her," she added.

Beth's head shot up. _How do they know these things?_ "That's ridiculous. Remus Lupin doesn't like me. I mean, not like _that_. We're just good friends. He did save me from more harm last month, after all." She stated the last comment in a way that said, _This conversation is over._

Beth closed her Charms book. She thought about getting the lock box but decided against it. She wanted to wait until she was alone again.

"Is it almost time for dinner? I'm starving. I haven't had anything since those chocolate frogs from my charms lesson." Beth suddenly remembered something. "Oh goodness! I totally forgot that I still haven't figured out whether I'm going to Transfiguration or Potions lessons tonight!"

"You don't have to worry about that." Dorcas grumbled. "Potter got a week's detention from the prank that the Marauders pulled. It's right during the time that you would have had Transfiguration. And unfortunately for the rest of the Quidditch team, he moved tonight's practice to right during dinner!"

"Oh I'm sorry," Beth stated, as if it was her fault.

"Don't be, he's just a nutter when it comes to playing Quidditch." Dorcas picked up her broom and put on her Quidditch robes. "First match is next month against Slytherin. That will probably be the most important game next to the championship match, of course."

"Which we'll win because of you, James, Sirius…and Frank Longbottom," Alice mentioned the third name rather hesitantly.

"Oh, yes, of course," Morwenna smirked, "the 7th-year chaser you've been fancying for a year now." Alice blushed.

"Don't forget that he's Head Boy, too." Lily added, winking at Alice, who turned an even darker pink.

"Well, I'm off to practice. Do you think you could save me some food?" The girls nodded their assent.

"Come on, Beth, let's go down to the Great Hall and get you some dinner. You'll need it for tonight, I'm sure." Morwenna pulled her up off the floor, as Lily and Alice got ready to make the trip down.

"Anyone for bat wing stew?" Beth joked.

**  
The dungeons classroom was as cold as it had been two nights before. Beth pulled her cloak closer around her. She was a little nervous facing the Slytherin 6th year knowing that the prank the Marauders had pulled was mainly on him. She was scared even though Remus had explained that what they had done was harmless.

A few moments later, Severus came in, walking with a limp and displaying a large bump on his forehead. Beth gasped audibly.

"Is there something funny that you see?" he snapped, scowling at her, as though she was laughing at him below her astonished stare.

Beth looked down at her book. _Severus is injured. Not from the prank surely. Remus told me it was harmless fun. Maybe he doesn't know what happened then._

"Your insufferable Gryffindor friends are responsible for this!" he yelled. Severus knew he was jeopardizing a possible friendship with Beth and subsequently the mission that Lucius had charged him with. He was just too angry to keep his emotions under control in front of the girl before him. _They_ were **her** friends after all.

"This," he pointed to the mark on this forehead, "is from my dormitory door hitting me in the face when I tried to open it. And I'm limping from landing on my leg because the force of the water sent me flying down the stairs into the common room." He breathed heavily.

Beth raised her head to look into his beetle black eyes. "I'm sorry, Severus," she apologized, appearing to be genuinely concerned for him.

And yet again she continued to amaze him by neither rising to his slandering of her Gryffindor companions nor defending them. She was a real puzzle to the Slytherin. He had never seen anyone so tolerant of other people, regardless of their background and personalities. He was lucky, of course, that she was like this because if he failed at his mission, Lucius would surely cause him certain harm.

Severus fought between accepting and dismissing the Gryffindor girl's apology. He instead decided on a more neutral comment. "I see that you were able to make our appointed lesson despite previous engagements." He pulled up a chair. "Tonight, we will continue with learning about potions to cure boils."

With the time that was allotted them, Beth perfected her potion, needing far less direction and helpful hints from Severus.

"You have been studying," he said, apparently some form of a compliment.

"What did you expect me to do? How else will I ever learn everything so quickly? I spent yesterday afternoon in the library reading and looking up information. I really do find potions a fascinating subject." Beth insisted.

"So we will meet on Monday to continue with your lessons?"

"Of course."

"And what of next Wednesday?"

Beth, who had been putting away her things, suddenly became very still. "I don't know, Severus. I really can't afford to miss out on another Transfiguration lesson. Jam-James will be finished serving his detentions." Severus smirked at this. "And I'm sure he'll want to start right away on my lessons."

"If Potter really cared about you and your lessons, Elizabeth, he wouldn't have made himself so unavailable to you during the time you were supposed to meet. Just consider my offer. Let me know your decision when we meet on Monday."

Severus began to help with the clean-up. "So…are you looking forward to your first Hogsmeade visit this weekend?" he asked.

Beth stopped cleaning momentarily as she heard a rustling very close to her. "I would be if I could go. Lily told me that students can't go unless they have permission from their parent or guardian, and I don't have either."

The Slytherin briefly looked alarmed. "There must be another way you would be able to go to the village."

"Maybe there is, I don't know. I wouldn't want to break school rules."

"I must start my prefect duties." Beth looked up at the shining badge. "I'm sure that you'll be able to find a way without anyone ever knowing that you were there." He left her to think about the implication of his words.

Beth picked up her bag and left the dungeons classroom, glad for a break from the cold. She had just passed a statue on the first floor, when she felt a hand wrap around her wrist and pull her behind it. The next moment she felt an invisible material drape over her. She turned to face the person who had grabbed her.

"James! What are you doing here?" she asked, shocked by his sudden appearance. "I thought you had detention right now."

"Shhh," he whispered. "I did. McGonagall just let the four of us out not too long ago. Dorcas told me you might be in the dungeons. I figured I'd check on you and make sure you were okay."

Beth suddenly remembered the noise she heard in the dungeons classroom. "You were spying on me, weren't you?" she asked, suspiciously.

"No!" James exclaimed, exasperatedly. "I swear I just heard the last few minutes. I came to see if you wanted to go to the Room of Requirement and study Transfiguration. I'm really sorry that I haven't been very responsible about making sure you're having your lessons." James had heard what Snape said about him not caring about tutoring Beth and had truly taken it to heart.

"Now? But it's after curfew! Won't we be in trouble if someone finds us?"

"No one will find us once we're in the room, and before that," James smirked, "we have this." He pointed to the Invisibility Cloak.

The black-haired boy turned toward the statue and pulled out his bag from behind it. "Come on, follow me. I had Morwenna get the Transfiguration book out of your trunk because we'll need it tonight."

**  
"Okay, tonight I think we'll start with perfecting the transfiguration from match to needle." James pulled a few boxes of matches from a shelf in the room. Beth frowned at him. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"James, I'm not very good at this subject. Everything else I'm okay with, but transfiguration seems to give me trouble for some reason."

"Well, with an attitude like that…" James scoffed. "You need to have a more positive attitude if you want to perform this branch of magic correctly."

Beth gave him a small smile. "Alright, then." _I can do this._

James watched and waited for Beth to start. "Uh, Beth?" he asked, a little frustrated with her. "What are you doing?"

Beth blushed. "Sorry, James, it's just that you make me nervous."

The boy with untidy black hair laughed. "If you think that I'm nerve-racking, you should try McGonagall's classroom." Then he proceeded to do an excellent imitation of their professor.

Beth laughed. "Okay, okay. Let's get started."

James lined up matches and had her change them slowly then more quickly. After than he threw some in the air with a rapid-fire succession much like the way he had handled the Quidditch drills in practice earlier that evening.

"James! Slow down! Please!"

He laughed. "Okay, I guess you've got this part down. Now we'll move on to changing mice into snuffboxes."

Beth's eyes widened. "What? But that's so much harder!"

"Yeah," he drawled. "Usually when you've mastered one thing you move on to more difficult endeavors."

She scowled at him. "I know that."

"Just trust me, Beth. I know what I'm doing. I'm not the top student in Transfiguration for nothing." He smirked at her.

Beth scrunched up her nose. "Alright, alright."

James and Beth spent the rest of the 2 hours attempting to change mice into snuffboxes. She made considerable progress and when they stopped at 11:00, Beth was able to successfully complete the task.

They packed up their things to head back to the Gryffindor common room.

"Beth, I couldn't help by overhear that you won't be able to go on the Hogsmeade weekend."

"Yeah, that's what Lily told me. I don't have anyone to sign a permission form for me to go." She answered sadly.

"Well, if you're willing there is a way to get to the village undetected."

"And how would that be?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

"There's a secret passageway that I'll show you on the way back. It's by a statue of a one-eyed witch and the password is 'Dissendium.' If you follow that, it will lead to the cellar of Honeydukes, the sweet shop."

"But won't I be seen?"

"No, not if I let you borrow my Invisibility Cloak. That way you not only get to see Hogsmeade, but you can also hang out with Remus," he paused and watched her blush, "and the rest of us too, of course."

"Well, if you think it will be alright."

"Yeah, it will be no trouble at all. You'll see. Sirius and I have sneaked out loads of times to get butterbeer and sweets for Gryffindor Quidditch victories."

"You talk about Quidditch so much, James that I can't wait to see my first match!"

"Here, take this book for extra reading. Every good witch or wizard should know about Quidditch." He handed her _Quidditch through the Ages_. "And you won't have to wait long for our first match. It's the second weekend in November. Gryffindor vs. Slytherin! We're going to slaughter them!" He said proudly.

"I'm sure." The two put on their bags, and James threw the cloak over them, as they left the Room of Requirement.

**  
At 9:45, Beth finally gave up trying to get any more sleep. Her night had been filled with more bad dreams about Dia and the lockbox. One particularly bad dream had ended in the lockbox biting her leg. Bits of paper were lying about, and Dia kept changing into the Slytherin Marcia Griggs and back again.

When Alice's clock read 10:00, Beth got out of bed, took a shower, and put on fresh clean clothes. Today was her lesson with Remus, a day she was quite looking forward to. A smile played upon her lips but soon vanished when she thought about her cousin. She sighed.

_Oh, this is so hard. Dia is the only family I have left. I shouldn't be trying to make more of an enemy out of her. But I do deserve to be happy, too. Maybe I can make her see that I'm not as bad as she makes me out to be. And that I'm really on her side._

Beth sighed again and went to her trunk to pull out her parents' lockbox. She then took up her special place next to her bed. _Okay now to find out what's in here_.

The girl pulled out some legal papers that contained her parents' wills. Her eyes immediately filled with tears. She pushed the papers aside, not wanting to look, the day of their deaths still fresh in her memory. There were also some notes probably in the case of an emergency.

Beth put her hands on a black velvet box. She brought it out and opened it to find a gold locket with the Spenser name and family crest. Her thumb gently rubbed over the crest, causing the locket to open. Beth covered her mouth with her hand.

Inside there were two photos, one of her grandparents and the other of her parents. All four were looking up and waving at her with smiles on their faces. Beth closed the locket and took it out of its box, clipping it around her neck and tucking it into her robes.

Overall, besides the locket Beth was rather disappointed about the contents of the lockbox. She was about to close the lid when a piece of paper sticking out on the right side of the box caught her eye. _I don't believe it! There's a false bottom!_

Beth felt along the sides of the bottom to figure out where to pull up. The bottom came up to reveal a piece of parchment. She became more excited as the she unrolled it.

**_Certificate of Potestas Constrictum_**

**_This parchment hereby certifies the binding of Elizabeth Hope Spenser's magical powers on August 5, 1960._**

**_Signed,_**

**_Alfred Bones_**

**_Minister of Magic_**

Beth's eyes widened. _What? My powers? Binding?_ She didn't know what to think. _What does that mean? It sounds awful. But this means that my parents have known all along that I had magical abilities, and they never told me._ Beth's anger flared. She threw everything back into the box and shoved it back into her trunk, then sat herself on her four-poster. The certificate she kept in her robes.

_What if Dia was right? What if my father was afraid I would be better?_ Her sadness returned. She buried her head into her knees. _How could my parents keep this from me? I thought they loved me. Didn't they know that I couldn't have been happier than where I am now?_

When Beth looked up again, the clock read 12:15. She wiped away the remaining tears and washed her face up in the bathroom. _I better get down to lunch before my friends miss me._

As Beth ran down the stairs and passed the first red plush chair, a voice called out to her. "I thought I might be seeing you sometime, Elizabeth."

Beth stopped in her tracks, whipped around, and pulled out her wand. "What do you want with me?" She asked more bravely than she felt.

"Now what kind of question is that? We are family after all." Dia stood and pulled out her own wand.

"You could have fooled me, Dia. I was under the impression that families were a bit more caring."

Dia snorted. "Not always, Elizabeth."

Beth thought of the certificate in her robes. "I know what you mean."

Dia, a bit shocked by her cousin's statement, lowered her wand. "What?" She narrowed her eyes. "What are you playing at?"

"I'm not playing at anything. I'm just saying that my family didn't really care about me like you and I thought they did." Beth ventured. "You and I are much more alike than you think. We shouldn't be enemies, Dia. We're family, and we've only got each other to rely on for help."

"What makes you think I need your help for anything? And you really believe that we can trust each other?"

"I'd trust you, Dia, you're my cousin. We really should be sticking together, especially with everything that's been happening."

Dia laughed. "Haven't you figured out by now that family means nothing to me anymore?" She stepped forward. "The only person I can count on is me." She pushed Beth over catching her off guard and making her fall to the floor. "Don't expect me to be nice to you just because you want to be 'family' now." She laughed again and made her way to the dormitories.

As Beth sat on the ground, the portrait hole opened to admit Remus Lupin. When he spotted her, he walked right over. "Hey, what are you doing down there?"

_Remus can't know._ "I'm a bit clumsy today. Tripped over my own feet."

He held out his hand, but she had already stood. "I was coming to see if you were ready for lunch."

"Oh, yes, most definitely. James nearly killed me last night with Quidditch-like drills." Remus laughed.

"You excited for tonight's lesson?" he asked nervously.

"Yeah, I am." She looked toward the staircase to the girls' dormitories. "Hey, Remus?" She quickly grabbed his hand and began pulling him to the entrance of the common room.

His eyes widened, and his face reddened. "Yeah, Beth?" They climbed through the portrait hole into the corridor.

"There's something I've got to show you at lessons tonight. Dumbledore retrieved a lockbox from my parents' bank. I was looking through its contents this morning and found something. I wanted you to be the first to know."

"You found something?" he repeated.

"Yes," she shifted uncomfortably as they walked toward the Great Hall, "something very interesting."

**  
Later that night, Beth and Remus gathered in the Room of Requirement. "Okay, what did you want to show me? Or would do you want to begin lessons first?"

"Oh, I'd much rather get this off my mind. I've been thinking about it all day." She pulled the parchment from her robes.

Remus sat down next to her, as she unrolled the paper. She handed the parchment to him. He read it over a few times and then looked up at her.

"Your powers were bound?" He frowned.

"Yeah, I guess so. What does that mean exactly?" She looked up at his face, hoping he would have an answer.

Remus shifted uncomfortably. "Well, binding is when spells are cast on witches and wizards so that they can't access their magical abilities. It has to be approved by the Ministry, so that's why there's an official document. It looks like it was done not long after you were born."

Beth turned to stare at the floor, deliberately avoiding Remus' gaze. He could sense that she was extremely bothered by this discovery. "Beth?"

"Y-yes?" she choked out.

He knew she was about to cry and didn't quite know what to say to stop her from doing so. "Do you want to talk about this?"

She put her head in her hands, and the tears began to fall. Remus put his arm around her shoulder because he knew that that always seemed to comfort her.

"Why?" she asked when she was finally able to speak. "Why would my parents do such a horrible thing? I thought they loved me!"

"They do love you, Beth. I'm sure they had their reasons for doing what they did. At least you know why you've never shown magic before now. You must show this to Dumbledore as soon as possible. Maybe he can offer more answers." He rolled up the parchment. "And don't worry about this. You're learning magic now, and you're here with other people that care about you." He said awkwardly.

Beth remembered what Dia and Alice had said about Remus liking her. _Hmm._ She pulled her head up. "Oh yeah? Who then?" she sniffled with eyes glistened with tears, challenging him to answer.

Remus turned pink. "Well, the girls, James, Sirius, Peter…and me." He added.

"You?" Beth began to smile. "You care about me? Whatever for? I must have been a terrible burden from the first time we met. Always running into you, bothering you with my problems, and crying like a baby every time we're together." She teased.

"I-I don't mind r-really." He stammered. "I'm gl-glad I could he-help, could be a f-friend."

Beth was in rare form in front of Remus. She had just been crying over her parents' mistake, and now she found herself unfairly teasing the boy next to her. She knew that he liked her, but he didn't know that, nor did he know that she rather fancied him as well.

The brunette gave him a genuine smile. "And I thank you for that."

Remus returned the smile. "Let's get to work, shall we?"

**  
For 3 hours, the tutor and pupil worked on learning several jinxes, including Locomotor Mortis. Remus trusted Beth enough to let her perform the full body bind on him, first setting up pillows on the floor to cushion his fall.

"Wow, you're learning so quickly. You'll have no problems being ready for Dumbledore's exam."

"You really think so?" she asked relieved. "I do quite enjoy this subject. It just may be my favorite."

"Oh? Any reason in particular?" he asked curious.

"It will help me defend myself. It's fun. And it doesn't hurt that it means I get to spend more time with you." She teased again. "You're a good teacher."

Remus fiddled with his wand. "Thank you. You're a good student. And I enjoy spending the time with you," he admitted to her.

Beth smiled at him. "So do you have prefect duty with Lily any time soon?"

No actually, not till sometime next week," he answered uncomfortably.

"Well, what about Hogsmeade? James taught me a way to get there so I can see what it's like!"

"Leave it to James." He gave a small smile which soon disappeared. "I'd love to be able to go myself but my mother is sick, and I need to go visit her."

A wave of sadness washed over Beth. "Oh. I hope she gets better soon."

"Yeah me too, but I'm afraid it's something of a terminal illness. I go to visit her about once a month."

"I'm sorry." Beth looked at him in the candlelight. Remus seemed like he was getting sick as well. "Be careful traveling. Are you feeling alright?" She stepped closer and touched his face lightly. "I hope you're not coming down with something too."

Remus blushed. Her being in such close proximity while talking about his condition made him extremely nervous and uncomfortable. _Never in all my life have I wanted to tell someone my secret. As much as I want to tell her, to be honest as she has been with me, I don't know if I can. I'm so afraid._

_ Until a month ago, she'd never even believed magic existed. Now she has so many burdens, how can I possibly have the heart to add to them? 'Oh by the way, your good friend, Remus, is a werewolf.' What would she think of me? She may enjoy her time with me now, but what about after she finds out? No, no, I can't bring myself to tell her yet, to ruin these nice moments with her. Not yet,_ he decided.

Remus turned away from those hazel eyes and calculating gaze. "Don't worry about me." He looked down at his watch. "It's getting late. We better start heading back to the Gryffindor common room."

As they packed up their things, Beth continued to watch Remus, wondering about his odd behavior. She couldn't place where this strange feeling within her was coming from, but she got the impression that there was something Remus wasn't telling her. And if he was, how many other things was he keeping from her?


	6. Where is she?

Chapter 6 Where is she?

The next day, Friday, was rather uneventful. Beth had spent the early evening with Dorcas studying magical creatures, and then Sirius took her up to the North Tower for instruction in Astronomy.

He had been surprised when she impressed him with her knowledge of most of the constellations in the sky. "Very good. You been studying?"

"No not really. I used to lie outside in my backyard staring at the stars for hours trying to figure out what was what. Then I went to the library and checked out books to help me identify what I was looking at. You have to find lots of stuff to do during the summer with no friends," she sighed.

"Hey, the other kids didn't know what they were missing by not being your friend." Beth gave him a small smile.

"Thanks, Sirius." She went back to her telescope. "Hey Sirius?" Beth began, continuing to look into the scope.

"Yeah?" He faced her, leaning one elbow on the balcony ledge.

"Well, you know Remus better than I do. Is he okay? He didn't look very well last night during lessons." She commented while gazing through her telescope.

Sirius hesitated. "Uh, yeah, I'm sure he's fine. Probably just feeling a bit under the weather. Last night's dinner was a bit questionable I think. I didn't feel well after eating it either." Beth watched him closely trying to see if there was truth to his statements.

He kept going, obviously trying to convince her and get the topic of conversation off of Moony. "Come on Beth. Don't worry about Remus. He can take care of himself. You don't need to be his mum." He winked, which caused her to blush.

"I was just wondering," she muttered, "trying to be a good friend."

Sirius considered her carefully. He still didn't know her all that well yet. _Would it be okay to joke with her about Moony?_ "Although, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you were to take care of him when he is sick." Her cheeks reddened.

'That's what I keep hearing." She said quietly, writing down figures with her eagle-feather quill.

Sirius inched closer, making sure he heard correctly. "What? What do you mean?"

"Is it true? That Remus likes me?" She turned away from marking the locations of Canis Majora and Orion to face him.

Sirius laughed, as he looked out over the Hogwarts' grounds. "Your guess is as good as mine, Beth. Remus tends to keep his love life extremely private." Silence ensued between them. "So do you fancy him?"

Her head quickly turned toward his, almost knocking over her telescope in the process. She didn't say anything but stared at the gray-eyed boy, considering him. "I'll take that as a no." He raised his head once more to gaze at the star he was named after.

_Should I trust Sirius enough to tell him the truth? He's never shown disloyalty before._ Beth reflected on her first month at Hogwarts. _I've never had any friends before now. It seems very strange to have so many people looking after me, to make sure I'm all right._ She giggled to herself. _Sirius practically treats me like his little sister. And if you can't trust a sibling with your secrets, who can you count on? _

Beth sighed. "Yes, I do. But you have to swear that you won't tell anyone, Sirius. I mean it, not even Remus." _Now how will I ensure that he won't tell?_ "And, if you divulge this information to anyone, I just might be forced to let it slip about your rendezvous with a certain blond Hufflepuff."

Sirius began to sputter. "How could you possibly know about that?"

"Well?" Beth stared at him hoping her blackmail would succeed.

"Alright, I'm sworn to secrecy." He paused, considering one more thought about the situation. "But…can I at least tease Remus?"

"No! No mention at all, you hear me?" She shook her quill at him.

The gray-eyed boy gave her a defeated look. "You're no fun."

"It's not for you to put your nose in other people's business." The petite 6th year went back to her telescope and chart.

"Well you didn't have to tell me." Sirius sulked at the thought of being blackmailed by his new friend. He, Sirius Black, was the one who should have been doing the tricking.

"Shhh, I'm trying figure out the calculations for making this chart." Beth smiled inwardly. _Haha, that was just a guess about the Hufflepuff, but it worked in my favor!_

**  
Saturday dawned over the Hogwarts Castle, meaning a new day and the first Hogsmeade trip of the year.

James had given Beth his Invisibility Cloak just before they all had left the common room to join the other students going to the village in the Entrance Hall. Lily had clicked her tongue in disapproval but said nothing because deep down, though she would never admit it to James, wanted very much for Beth to visit Hogsmeade also.

Beth quickly followed the path to the passage that James had showed her. Upon reaching the one-eyed witch statue, she tapped it with her wand, "Dissendium." She made her way through the dark tunnel into the cellar of Honeydukes.

When the girl finally came upon the actual store, she saw many students looking at and buying sweets. She began to panic that she wouldn't find anyone she knew, when she spotted Alice and Morwenna by the section of chocolate frogs. Beth pulled on Alice's robes. "I'm here," she whispered.

Alice jumped. "Don't scare me like that," she muttered.

Dorcas and Lily joined them. "You two have been over here for ages. Are you going to buy any frogs or not?" Dorcas grinned.

"We have a visitor." Morwenna explained, pointing to where Beth stood.

Lily stepped closer. "I think we'll have a look around the whole store. Beth, you can tell us what you want, and if you give us the money we'll pay for it."

A few hours later, the 5 girls walked down the main street of Hogsmeade with all their purchases, including Beth's large packages from Zonko's, Dervish and Banges, Scrivenshaft's, Gladrags, and Honeydukes, where she purchased chocolate frogs, Fizzing Whizbees, 3 sugar quills, and a box of Bertie Botts' Every Flavor Beans.

"Well, what should we do now?" Beth asked from underneath the cloak.

"Let's check out the Shrieking Shack." Dorcas replied, adventurously. "It's the most haunted house in all of Britain."

"Are you mad, Dorcas?" Alice gave her a sharp look. "We'd get ourselves bloody well killed if we went in there!"

"Actually," Morwenna cut in, "we wouldn't be able to get in. James and his friends have already tried. They told me so."

Lily snorted. "Yeah, right. I'm sure they're the ones that started those haunted house rumors. Probably use the place for their own secret hideout."

"No, Lily," Alice insisted. "Those rumors began before we were at Hogwarts. Even Dumbledore verifies those claims."

A throat cleared from in front of them. "Sorry, Beth," they whispered together.

Instead they decided to go for some butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks, knowing that Beth would get a decent view of the Shrieking Shack on their way there.

The popular pub was as crowded as the sweets shop, but Dorcas managed to find the girls an empty booth in the corner. Beth squeezed in between the 4 of them. A witch with a curvy figure and young pretty face named Madame Rosmerta came over to take their orders.

"Five butterbeers please," ordered Morwenna.

"Five? There are only four of you."

"Yes," Alice hesitated, "but we really love butterbeer, and we also have a friend joining us later on." She smiled innocently, and the others nodded their heads, vehemently.

Madame Rosmerta eyed them suspiciously but left to go get their drinks.

A few moments later after the pub owner had brought them their order and went away to help the next customer, Dorcas, since she was next to Beth, slipped her the mug of butterbeer. The day had been chilly, so Beth welcomed the drink that gave her a warm feeling inside. She was closed to finishing when she heard Lily let out a groan.

"Not now," she grumbled.

Beth looked up to see James, Sirius, and Peter heading their way, all carrying their own mugs of butterbeer.

"Hello, ladies," Sirius greeted them warmly.

"Well," James said hastily, "Where is she?"

"No tact as usual, Potter." Lily retorted.

"Lily, I told you…" James began.

"James, don't worry, I'm here." Beth whispered, interrupting them.

A look of relief washed over the boy with glasses.

"Mind if we join you?" Sirius asked.

"Not at all," chimed Alice, Dorcas, and Morwenna.

Sirius and Peter squeezed in next to Morwenna and Alice, while James tried to sit next to Lily.

"No way!" Lily pushed him back out.

"Fine." James carried a hurt look on his face as he grabbed a chair from another table. "So, how are you enjoying Hogsmeade so far, Beth?" he whispered.

"Oh it's lovely. I wish Remus was here with us too, though."

Sirius snorted. _I bet._ He didn't say anything. He had the distinct feeling that even though he couldn't see her, Beth was giving him a severe glare.

"Hey girls," Peter piped up, "did you see the Daily Prophet this morning?"

"No," responded Dorcas. Peter placed the newspaper in front of her. Dorcas gasped as she began reading the front page.

"Oh my," whispered Beth, as she saw that there had been another attack. Voldemort had murdered another family just like he had hers. _He has to be stopped._

Madame Rosmerta wandered over to their table. "Sirius, James! Fancy seeing you in my pub at a time when you're supposed to be here, eh?" Both of the boys blushed, but smiled nonetheless.

"Amazing, I've rendered them both speechless." The pub owner laughed until she saw the paper Morwenna was now holding. "Getting worse, every time isn't it? I'd be careful out there, if I were you. Looks like they're headed this way. I wouldn't want the students to suffer in this madness." Everyone nodded their heads sadly.

"Well you lot better be finishing up your shopping. You'll have to be heading back to the castle before you know it." The 8 students got up, paid for their drinks, and left the warmth of The Three Broomsticks.

Beth walked a little in front of her friends still underneath James' cloak. The invisible material helped to block the wind, but she found herself pulling her winter cloak closer toward her anyway. Except for the wind and constant chatter from all the Hogwarts' students, the day could not have been more quiet. But in the next moment that would all change.

There was first one faint pop, then another and another until the village sounded like it was having a popcorn sale. Beth, her roommates, and the Marauders turned around to see Death Eaters appearing like crazy about 200 feet away from them.

James motioned something to Peter and turned to Beth. "Beth, you have to get back through Honeydukes to Hogwarts as fast as possible. You can't defend yourself as well as we can. And keep the cloak on at all times." No one answered him. _Where is she? Merlin, I hope she heard me._

The Death Eaters were getting closer, and students were running in all directions. The Marauders and girls heard one cloaked figure shout, "Search every building!"

"Come on," Sirius grabbed Morwenna and Dorcas, who happened to be beside him. "We have to get out of here as well."

"Sirius," James called to him, "Let's all try to get to that passageway back to Hogwarts. It seems to be the safest option we have."

"Wait! We should figure out what they're searching for. We can't just let them get it without a fight!" Lily protested. She side-stepped into a dark alley right beside Honeydukes, and everyone else followed.

"Lily, this is pointless!" Alice whispered. "They could be searching for anything. We should be making sure that Beth is all right!"

The red-haired girl shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "It's not," she argued. She suddenly thought back to the day when she and the Marauders had taken Beth to see the headmaster for this first time. "The attack on Beth's family!" she exclaimed. "Dumbledore told us that a memory charm had been placed on her, but no one tried to kill her. What if…"

Morwenna quickly caught on to what Lily was thinking. "What if she's the thing that they're looking for?" No one said anything, as they had heard footsteps nearby. Everyone held their breath hoping they wouldn't be found. A figure stepped into the dark alley, grabbing onto Dorcas' arm. She gasped.

"Peter Pettigrew! Bloody hell, you scared me half to death!" Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sorry Dorcas, didn't mean to," muttered the small boy.

"Well, Peter?" James asked.

"They're looking for her, James. Where is she?" he panted, looking like he might wet himself with fear.

"I knew this was a bad idea, Potter. You gave her your Invisibility Cloak and now we can't even see where she is, let alone if she's all right." Lily glared at him, but her eyes were filled with worry.

"You don't know what you're saying, Evans." Sirius replied. "James' cloak is the best thing for her right now. It'll most likely keep her hidden and save her arse from being discovered."

**  
And Sirius could not have been more right in that moment. A blast near Honeydukes caused all the sweets above Beth to fall on top of her and the cloak, trapping the girl but also hiding her. Soon she heard footsteps, and hoped that they were someone she recognized. What sounded like 2 people entered the shop.

"Where is she, Bellatrix? We still haven't seen her. No one's in here." A woman with long black hair and heavy eyelids glanced around the shop.

"We mustn't leave any rock unturned, poppet. The Dark Lord would not be happy if we were to fail in our mission." A few candies falling from the pile where Beth lay drew Bellatrix' attention to it. She stepped closer to investigate.

_Oh please don't let them discover me here._

Bellatrix eyed the candy pile suspiciously. _Leave no rock unturned…_ "Red-," she began, but was cut off by another person entering the shop.

"Bellatrix, we must leave immediately!" he shouted.

"Rodolphus, the Dark Lord said that we must search every single place for her. Let me finish my work here."

"We have to get out now. Aurors are arriving as we speak. The master will not be pleased if we get ourselves thrown into Azkaban. Bellatrix, Rabastan, come!"

Both, it seems, obeyed his command because a few seconds later silence pervaded in Honeydukes.

Beth breathed a sigh of relief, releasing a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. _They were looking for someone._ The brunette thought about the previous attack, the night that she came to Hogwarts. She shuddered. _Surely it couldn't have been me, could it?_ She began to look for ways to get out of the large pile of candy. After struggling for a moment, she soon realized it was useless. She couldn't even pull out her wand because her hands were constricted so tightly to her sides.

After another 5 minutes, Beth could hear the shop entrance door open one more time. "Beth, are you still in here?" Alice called.

"Oh, Alice, you've got to help me. I'm stuck!"

"Where are you?" Morwenna asked.

"Over here in this huge pile of candy."

"What!" exclaimed Dorcas and the boys. They all understood when they finally came to the candy and were forced to stifle laughs.

"Is everyone out there? What happened? Is everyone all right?"

"Yes, we're fine, Beth," Lily insisted. "Wingardium Leviosa!" She levitated all the candy off and away from Beth.

"Are you all right? What happened to you?" Alice asked with concern.

"A blast caused all that candy to fall on me. Three people came in here looking for someone, 2 men and a woman, I think. Rodolphus, Rabastan, and Bellatrix."

Sirius sneered. "My idiot cousin, her husband, and brother-in-law were here?"

"Yes, they kept referring to someone as the Dark lord. Is that Voldemort?" Peter was the only one who flinched visibly.

Beth reflected for a moment on what Sirius had just said. "Did you just say they were your family?"

The boy with smooth black hair gave her a look of indignation. "They certainly aren't _my_ family! Let's just leave this as…most of my relatives are not very nice!"

"I guess so, if they work for Voldemort. Couldn't we turn them in?"

James interrupted. "No unfortunately, too much influence in the ministry."

"But that's totally unfair!" protested Beth.

"A lot of things in the magical world are unfair, unfortunately." Morwenna tried to explain to her.

"We really need to be getting out of here and back to the castle," suggested Lily. "Beth should go to the hospital wing."

"More importantly," James gave his own suggestion, "perhaps we should pay a visit to Dumbledore, and explain to him everything we've seen and heard."

**  
It was Beth's fourth time going to Dumbledore's office, and still the trip never ceased to amaze her. As everyone filed in, she noticed the worried expression on the headmaster's face.

"Professor Dumbledore," James began, "we came here to give our account of the attack on Hogsmeade."

"Yes, please do." He conjured chairs for all of them. "Have a seat, then."

"We were just coming out of The Three Broomsticks," explained Dorcas, "when the Death Eaters, hundreds of them, apparated out of nowhere."

"Yes," Alice agreed, "and we heard one of them shout, 'Search every building.'"

"We ran into an alleyway by Honeydukes to avoid being discovered," added Morwenna.

"And it was in there that I remembered the attack on Beth's family." Beth looked over at Lily. _They're thinking the same thing I am then! What am I going to do with Death Eaters and Voldemort chasing after me?_

"Professor, do you think they could be after her?" Sirius voiced what everyone, including Beth, was thinking. "Will Beth be safe anymore?"

"Yes, Mr. Black. Miss Spenser should be perfectly safe as long as she stays within the confines of the Hogwarts grounds."

Beth looked down at her hands, knowing that the headmaster was gazing at her. She felt horrible for breaking school rules and endangering herself as well as others.

"If you seven would kindly close the door on your way out, I'd like to speak to Miss Spenser alone."

She was waiting for it to come, his reprimand for disobeyed rules that were there to ensure her safety.

"Miss Spenser, please look at me." She raised her head to face the headmaster. "Something seems to be troubling you. Is everything all right with school? Classmates and other students treating you well?"

Beth had the feeling that Dumbledore could read her mind, but she was stubborn and wouldn't give away her secret. Instead she remembered the certificate. "I found something interesting hidden in the lockbox." She pulled out the parchment and handed it to him.

Dumbledore read over the piece of paper and frowned. "Hmm, it seems my suspicions were confirmed, but not all answers have revealed themselves as of yet. Miss Spenser, I would prefer if you stayed here to enjoy the Christmas holidays. However, I want you to go to Diagon Alley with Professor McGonagall to have a look in your grandparents' vault at Gringotts and see if you can find more answers."

Beth's heart gave a leap at this statement. _Perhaps I will find out more about my past! I think that's what Dumbledore's hoping._ She nodded in respond.

The headmaster rolled up the parchment and handed it back to Beth. "It is unwise to keep secrets from friends, Miss Spenser. The effect can be disastrous."

She didn't answer. Instead she stood and turned to leave the office, but then stopped. _I almost forgot about my punishment. Surely Professor Dumbledore would have noticed?_ "Professor Dumbledore, aren't you going to punish me for going to Hogsmeade when I wasn't supposed to?"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that, Miss Spenser, if you agree to attend Care of Magical Creatures classes on Tuesday afternoons where it is nice and safe." He smiled and his blue eyes twinkled.

Beth got the feeling that Dumbledore was just glad that she was out of danger. There was no need to punish of course. The scare she had received was punishment enough. _My first real magic class!_ She thought. _I wonder if any of my friends will be in there._

**  
Dinner that night had been a solemn one. Thankfully no one had been killed during the Hogsmeade attack, but several had been injured. Dumbledore had made an announcement that all future visits to the village would be cancelled much to the chagrin of everyone, but most students understood that safety was important.

After the Marauders and the girls left the Great Hall and entered the Gryffindor common room, Beth motioned them over to a secluded corner.

"Okay, I've been wanting to show you all something very important, but haven't been able to. Remus and I discussed it during my defense lessons."

"Oh, yes." Sirius pretended to pout. "It was so very important that you could find the time to tell him, but leave us out for 2 whole days!"

Beth gave him a short glare while pulling out the certificate once again and passing it around to her friends. Each one winced in turn as they read the parchment.

"Ouch," James grimaced, thinking of what it would feel like to not to be able to easily flick his wand with wanted results, in Transfiguration especially. "So did it hurt?"

"Well, I don't remember. I was too young. I wish my parents had been honest with me. It sort of makes me mad, but how can I be, knowing that they're gone?"

Not knowing what to say, everyone just nodded their heads in agreement. "The possibly exciting news," continued Beth, "is that Dumbledore asked me to go to my vault during holiday and see what I can find among my grandparents' possessions. So I figured maybe I'll find out more with my past that I never knew."

"That would be something," replied Dorcas.

"Maybe you're a long lost princess, who has to return to her kingdom!" Alice suggested happily.

"Now that's a fairytale if I ever heard one," squeaked Peter. Alice knocked him on the head with a third year's copy of Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3.

"Maybe you're a Metamorphmagus, and you can change into anything or anyone you like." Morwenna suggested finally.

"That would be brilliant!" replied Sirius excitedly. "My favorite cousin, Andromeda, has a little girl who was born with that skill. Likes changing her hair different colors every hour," he chuckled.

Beth smiled. "That sounds amusing, but I don't think I can do that. Oh, I almost forgot. Dumbledore asked me to join Care of Magical Creature class on Tuesday afternoons. Do any of you have it then?" Everyone shook their heads. Beth yawned and stretched her arms up in the air. Her tiredness soon caught on, and starting with Lily, they all began to yawn.

"Well," James stood up and stretched, "No need to be staying up this late." It was only 8:00 in the evening. Of course he was only pretending, for it was the full moon, and he as well as the other Marauders were joining Remus in the Shrieking Shack. Remus had tried to talk them out of coming, saying it was too dangerous with Voldemort lurking about, but they wouldn't listen.

The girls, agreeing that it would be good to get some well-needed rest after such a long day, hurried upstairs to get ready for bed. Beth was just slipping into her four-poster when she heard a loud howl, piecing the night.

"What was that? Where did that come from?"

"That was a werewolf." Dorcas informed her. "They live in the Forbidden Forest." She jumped into her bed as well.

_A werewolf?_ Beth gulped. _I've only heard about those in legends, but they really exist? All these dangers I'm being made aware of, I had no idea. Werewolves, Death Eaters, Voldemort. How will I ever survive the wizarding world? I can't stay at Hogwarts forever. Why does Voldemort want me?_

Morwenna was the first to notice Beth's distant but worried gaze. "Beth, it's all right, you know. The werewolves can't hurt you from inside the castle."

"Y-yes, I know." T_hat's not what I'm afraid of, Morwenna._ She pulled the curtains of her four-poster. "Goodnight, girls."

"Goodnight, Beth," they replied in unison. The petite brown-haired girl soon fell into an uneasy sleep.

_Beth walked across the grassy lawns of Hogwarts, leaving the grounds to wander amongst the tall, foreboding trees of the Forbidden Forest. Something told her she should be here, that someone needed her help. She shook slightly as she strayed deeper into the forest. She heard that long piercing howl again, but it was closer this time. Too close._

_ Beth felt like she should be leaving, but her gut feeling was that she needed to stay, to help whomever was in trouble. A twig snapped in front of her, and the underbrush moved violently in the wind. Or was it the wind? Her eyes widened in horror as a creature with a long snout, yellow eyes, and a half-human, half-wolf body came closer to her. 'A werewolf,' she thought. She was frozen with fear. She wanted to move but couldn't get either of her feet to move anywhere. _

_ The werewolf came within a foot of her, and they stared at one another for a moment. Then the creature did something most unexpected. It licked her on the face. Beth stood there still frozen and didn't respond. Apparently this wasn't what the creature had been hoping for. It began to growl, and Beth could feel that she now was able to back away. She was 10 or so feet away when the werewolf tried to lunge at her._

_ Somehow she was able to dodge and broke into an all-out run. The creature was close behind and gaining. There was a clearing. Beth thought she might be safe if she could just get there. And then she tripped over something and fell hard into the ground. She could hear the werewolf drawing nearer. She scrambled to her feet and turned to face the creature. It growled at her as it stepped forward. _

_ Beth took a chance to look down and see what she had tripped over. She nearly screamed. There over to the side just behind the werewolf was the body of Remus Lupin. "Oh, goodness, Remus. What were you doing out here? Please, please don't be dead!" The tears began to fall down her fear-stricken face._

_ The girl managed to dodge the creature again and was now lying next to Remus' body. "Remus, Remus, please wake up. We have to get out of here!"_

_ She was so busy attempting to pull up his lifeless body that she didn't notice the werewolf had returned. She looked up when she saw that she was in its shadow. The creature bared its teeth at her and pounced on her. She screamed…_


	7. One Nightmare After Another

Chapter 7 One Nightmare After Another

Beth's eyes snapped open. Her breathing was heavy and ragged. _It was just a dream. Did I scream in real life?_ She propped herself up on her elbows. The soft breathing and snores from her roommates told her no. _That dream was so real. I tried to save Remus but there was nothing I could do._ Beth flopped back into her pillow. _I'm so weak, even in my dreams._

After the second consecutive nightmare regarding Remus and the werewolf, Beth finally reached for the vial of dreamless sleep potion on her nightstand. _I'm glad this came in good use._ She downed the potion but had to cover her mouth to keep it from coming back up. _Gross! Does this stuff actually work?_ The brunette did not have long to wait for the potion to take effect. As soon as her head hit the pillow she fell into a deep sleep.

Beth slept so soundly that her roommates could not wake her the next morning. Finally they decided to concede defeat, assuming that she must have taken the potion Madame Pomfrey gave her.

The girls left her to sleep while they started on their ever-growing mountain of homework. Around lunchtime they went back to their dormitory to attempt to wake her again.

"She must have taken a lot of the potion to be sleeping this long." Morwenna crossed her arms and rested her fist across her mouth.

Alice sat on her bed worried. "I hope she didn't take too much of it."

"Well, we really don't even know when she took the potion," Lily stated logically.

"Yeah, you're right Lily. She could have taken it right when we went to bed or much later if she had nightmares and couldn't sleep." Dorcas agreed.

"Should we get Madame Pomfrey?" Alice suggested.

"No, I think she'll be alright. Do you think we should try to wake her up again?" Morwenna began to make her way toward Beth's four-poster.

Their door creaked open to admit 3 of the 4 Marauders still in their nightclothes. James' hair looked messier than normal, and Sirius yawned loudly. Peter entered behind them with his eyes still closed.

The girls giggled. "Finally awake, you lot?" Dorcas grinned.

"Being the big strong men that we are, we just wanted to make sure you girls were okay with all that you went through yesterday…" James began, but stopped noticing that Beth was still in her four-poster.

Peter noticed as well. "What's Beth still doing in bed? She must have slept for at least 12 hours already!"

"She took that potion Madame Pomfrey gave her sometime after we went to bed. We haven't be able to wake her as of yet," Morwenna informed them.

"Well, maybe," Sirius spoke up, "you haven't been going about it the right way." He moved toward Beth.

"Black, I really don't think that you should…do that." Lily finished softly, as she realized he had no intention of listening to her.

Sirius knelt down and began to whisper in Beth's ear. No one could hear what he was saying but it seems have an almost instantaneous effect on Beth. "No," she whispered at first.

Her sleep became more fitful, as he continued to whisper in her ear. Finally, she sat up, considerably dazed. "No, it can't be!" It was another moment before she realized everyone standing around her bed. Her cheeks turned a slight shade of pink.

"What is everyone doing here, especially the boys?"

Alice filled her in. "Sirius so kindly decided to wake you up from the nice sleep you were having by whispering sweet-nothings in your ear." Everyone laughed.

Sirius gave Alice an annoyed glance. Beth looked at him sharply and with quick reflexes hit him with her pillow, knocking him to the floor. The Marauders and girls laughed even harder.

"Sirius, you arse! Thank you so much for reminding me of my wonderfully bloody nightmares!" Beth swung to hit him again but he ducked and grabbed the pillow from her.

"You've been having more nightmares, Beth? Perhaps you need to talk to someone about them. It's really not healthy to be having so many." Lily gave her a concerned glance.

"What exactly did you say to her?" Morwenna, closest to the Sirius and Beth, crossed her arms, and the rest of the girls glared at him, too.

"I'm innocent, I swear!" He protested, "How was I supposed to know that she was having nightmares about…" Beth had grabbed the pillow back and whopped him over the head again.

She turned to the others. "After hearing that awful howling coming from the Forbidden Forest," the boys shared a knowing look, "I had crazy nightmares about Remus and I being attacked by a werewolf."

"Oh my," whispered Alice.

"I'm sure Remus is fine." Peter tried to reassure her.

"Yeah, Beth, and you're not in any danger. Remus will be back tomorrow morning for classes. You'll see that he's just fine." James offered his own assurance.

Sirius gave James a look as if to say, _That's if he's not scratched up too bad._ The gray-eyed boy stood up and gently grabbed his "sister" to pull her out of bed. "Come on, no more lying about. You've got work to do!"

Dorcas snorted. "Oh, and you're one to set an example then, are you?"

"Hey, not everyone is as talented as I am!" He exclaimed.

Everyone in the room drew their wands and banished pillows toward Sirius, who used Beth has a shield. She laughed and tried to get away, but he held onto her shoulders. He poked his head from behind her and stuck his tongue out at everyone. He moved to go back behind his shield, but Lily was too quick for him. She banished a pillow that hit him square in the face, leaving him with a mouthful of feathers.

Everyone doubled over laughing apart from Sirius, who was sputtering feathers out of his mouth. When they were able to become serious once more, James grabbed Sirius and left with him and Peter, so that Beth could change. About 15 minutes later, both the girls and Marauders emerged from their dormitories and headed to the Great Hall for lunch.

**  
Beth did see Remus the next morning right before lunch, but his appearance didn't reassure her at all. He came through the portrait hole just as she walked down the stairs into the common room. She gasped and ran to him when she saw his face.

"Remus, what happened to you? You have scratches on your face!" Beth reached up and touched the sore marks on his cheek and nose.

He winced. "It's okay, Beth. I was gathering some herbs in my mother's garden from a rather disagreeable plant when it took a few swipes at me. I've been checked out and everything. I promise I'm fine."

"I was so worried about you." Beth put her arms around him in a hug. "I dreamt that you and I were being attacked by a werewolf in the forest."

Remus paled, but Beth couldn't see because her head was turned away from his face during the hug. "You were lying there on the ground unconscious. I tried to get you out of there, but the werewolf was right there. I tried to save you but I couldn't do anything." Beth visibly trembled with fear.

Remus suddenly felt guilty again. _I should tell her. But she seems frightened of werewolves. How would she ever be able to accept the truth?_ He sighed.

"I'll make sure you're safe, Beth." Remus pulled away to look at her face to face. "No werewolf will ever harm you or even come near you while I'm around, okay?"

Beth nodded her head and wiped away her tears. "Let's go to lunch then, shall we?" He offered his arm, and she slipped her arm into his. _I don't really care about the werewolf, Remus. I just don't want anything to happen to you._ She sighed quietly to herself, as they made their way out of Gryffindor Tower.

**  
Two weeks passed quickly, and soon it was time for the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Quidditch match. James had been really busy, but he still managed to have his Transfiguration lessons with Beth on Wednesday nights after her Potions lessons. Even though he and the Marauders, namely Sirius, protested these extra lessons with Snape, Beth insisted that she go anyway because she really liked Potions and, as she pointed out, they really couldn't tell her what to do. They had grumbled about it, much to Remus' and the other girls' amusement, but couldn't do anything about their difference of opinions.

Everyone had breakfast together that Saturday morning, but James, Sirius, Dorcas and the rest of the team left to get ready in the changing rooms. The rest of the girls and Marauders finished breakfast as soon as they could. Then they walked down to the Quidditch stadium so that Beth could get a good seat to watch the match.

"Hello, and welcome the first Quidditch match of the season. I'm your announcer Ty Jordan. Today's match is between the mighty Gryffindors and those nasty cheatin' Slytherins."

"Jordan! Announce the game without bias, or you lose your job!"

"Sorry, Professor McGonagall. Anyway, for the Gryffindor team we have Black, Brown, Longbottom, Meadowes, Patil, Wood, and Captain James Potter!" The Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws cheered and clapped excitedly while the Slytherins booed.

"And on the Slytherin team we have Black, Bletchley, Bulstrode, Griggs, Nott, Pucey, and Captain Evan Rosier!"

Both teams flew around the pitch a few times before coming to their starting positions in the game. James and Sirius were showing off for Beth by doing loop-de-loops and figure-eights in the sky. Beth clapped enthusiastically and cheered for her friends, housemates, and the sheer amazement of it all since she had never seen Quidditch before. Even reading the book James gave Beth could not prepare her for what she would see in real life.

"Gryffindor and Slytherin players meet in the middle. Captains Potter and Rosier are shaking hands and now returning to their positions. Madame Hooch has the Quaffle. She blows the whistle, and they're off! Potter naturally gets to the red ball first. He passes to Meadowes, who throws to Longbottom. Back to Meadowes, oh she's forced to reverse pass to Longbottom after Griggs blocks her. Longbottom flies toward the goal posts. Which one will he go toward? Bletchley gets ready to make the catch. Looks like the Gryffindor chaser is going left. No he fakes right at the last second! The Quaffle goes through the right post. Gryffindor scores! 10-0!"

The Lions were certainly on their game. All three chasers had at least 3 goals a piece at the end of a ½ hour. The 2 beaters, Black and Patil, kept the Bludgers soaring toward the Slytherin team so often that they were given little scoring opportunity. Sirius and James were showing off, confident in their win against the Serpents.

As play continued, the green team became more desperate resorting to fouls, such as colliding with their opponents and shoving the Gryffindor Keeper, Wood, out of the way so that they could score. One of the chasers was even given a penalty for haversacking because he purposely didn't let go of the Quaffle before it went through the center hoop. The Slytherin players were also becoming more agitated and aggressive. It was expected since they were losing so badly to the Gryffindor Quidditch team. This was a time for James and his teammates to be wary because the Slytherins could do anything unexpected at any moment during the game, since they were desperate to get ahead.

That time came an hour into the game. One of the Slytherin beaters slammed a bludger in the direction of Dorcas' head, and he was so close when he hit it that she wouldn't have time to get out of the way. She did the only thing she could thing of which was to fly upwards so she could attempt to catch the black ball in her arms. This unfortunately was the best thing that she could do. The bludger hit her in the stomach with such force that it knocked the wind out of her, she nearly fell off her broom. She would have to if an angry Sirius Black hadn't come around to steady her on her broom and help her down to the ground. Of course not before releasing the bludger from Dorcas' arms and shooting it toward his brother, Regulus, who was looking like he had just spotted something golden, but he had to veer off course when he saw the ball coming toward him.

Madame Hooch blew her whistle. "Foul!"

The girls were yelling and screaming at the Slytherin players. "Oh, good, Madame Hooch is giving the Quaffle to James to shoot the penalty," replied Remus calmly.

"I hope Dorcas will be alright," worried Beth. _This game is so dangerous. I just knew something bad would happen. I could feel it. And I still feel like this isn't the worst of it._

The hit on Dorcas was just what the Slytherins needed to break the Gryffindor's momentum and get their own going. They quickly caught up in points over the next 40 minutes.

"Oh, they have to do something!" Alice exclaimed as James called for a time-out. "We really have to win this game if we want to win the Quidditch cup this year."

Beth watched James trying to calmly talk to his team on the ground. She had just finished _Quidditch Through the Ages_ the morning of the game, and she was quite excited to finally know what was going on in the game. James didn't seem to be very encouraging to his team, almost like he was at his wits end. _How will they win now?_ A scene flashed quickly through Beth's mind. _What if?_

"I'll be right back."

"What? Where are you going?" Remus called after her. She didn't answer.

Remus, Peter, and the girls watched with growing interest as they saw Beth walk onto the pitch toward James and the other Gryffindor players. The teammates closed in around her, and she disappeared. Morwenna had Dorcas' omniculars from the last Quidditch World Cup so she zoomed in on the group to try to figure out what was happening.

"Well," she shouted over the crowds so that the others could hear, "I can't see Beth, but the players have excited looks on their faces so she must be telling them some good news or at least something they want to hear."

After another moment or two, the team broke up and flew into position to continue the game. "Look! Dorcas must be feeling better. She's back in the game!" Lily called out to them.

The game began again, and the Gryffindors' appeared to be in good spirits and also determined to make up for lost time. The chasers had just attempted and completed a play to make their first goal since Dorcas was hurt, when Beth returned to her place in the Gryffindor stands.

"What did you say to them?" Peter asked amazed.

"Nothing they didn't already know," responded Beth mysteriously. They all watched on pins and needles as the Chasers used many spectacular formations and plays. Sometimes the three Chasers flew together with one in the center, slightly ahead of the other two. James pulled off the Porskoff Ploy, darting upward with the Quaffle to the draw the Slytherin Marcia Griggs upward as well, but then he dropped the red ball to Frank Longbottom. They also continued to use more reverse passes which brought them ahead of the Slytherins, 150-100. Dorcas had even been able to roll upside down on her broom, narrowing avoiding another hit by a Bludger.

"Someone catch the Snitch already!" Lily yelled impatiently, worried about her friend.

"No! Not yet, they have to be up by much more if the Slytherins catch it!" replied Alice hastily.

Ty Jordan came through on the microphone. "What's this? Have Black and Brown seen the Gold? I'd say gold is the best of them all. Get it? Black, Brown, Gold? All colors!" Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and glared at the Gryffindor. "Hehe, sorry, professor. Just a bit of a joke. Anyway, the Seekers are both going after the Snitch. Who will catch it first, Slytherin or Gryffindor?"

Regulus Black looked like he was much closer to the golden ball, but Brown was closing the gap between them. After a moment of flying toward the Snitch, the Slytherin Seeker kicked out his foot to knock the Gryffindor player off course but he veered right to avoid the blow. Just then Regulus lifted his head in time to see a Bludger coming for his face if he didn't move right then. He pulled left thinking that he would be safe because he didn't see the Gryffindor Seeker anywhere around. But Brown had immediately set himself back on course and grabbed the Snitch to give the Gryffindors their first victory of the season. The Slytherin Seeker swore in disgust that he had lost and also that it was his brother Sirius who had sent the Bludger his way at the last second.

"They won, they won!" Beth jumped up and down, while Morwenna, Lily, and Alice cheered loudly.

"Must have been because of you, Beth." Remus smirked.

She blushed, "No I don't think so. They had it in them all along."

The Gryffindor players celebrated together in the air with the Seeker in the middle with the Snitch. They lined up to shake hands with the other team. James was just shaking the other captain's hand when the other Bludger came out of nowhere and smashed into James' arm. "AHHH!" he screamed.

"Oh no!" The girls cried from the stands. The Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff houses all yelled in outrage, while the Slytherin house cheered. The outline of James' forearm looked non-existent, as the bones in it appeared to be shattered to pieces. Sirius tried to help him down to the ground, while the other players descended as well.

The girls, Remus, and Peter raced down the stands to the pitch.

"Oh, James, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault," claimed Beth.

"Your fault? Not at all. Things like this happen all the time," James winced, as he tried to reassure her. "Anyway, we won didn't we? All thanks to you."

Lily was surprised that James gave credit to where credit was due, but Beth refused to claim responsibility. "No, no, I didn't do anything. It was the team, all of you. You have it in you. I'd like to see you win that Quidditch cup."

"Yes, ma'am, will do." James attempted to salute Beth, forgetting about his arm.

"Let's get you to the hospital wing, mate," insisted Sirius.

James spent a rather painful night in the infirmary having the bones in his arm mend themselves, but after a couple days he was as good as new, able to do pranks and perform spells.

**  
The Tuesday following the Quidditch match, Beth traveled in and out of all the students in the corridor to get to the Entrance Hall, so she could make her way out onto the grounds. It was her first Care of Magical Creatures class. She would have started earlier, but while studying in the mornings she would often fall asleep with homework in her lap.

Her nightmares had been invading her sleep practically every other night, and she was lucky to have gotten up in time this particular morning. Her fears about Remus had transferred to other members in her group of friends. Sometimes it was Alice, captured by the Death Eaters, or Dorcas being knocked off her broomstick by what looked like a very painful spell. Other times it was Remus again with the werewolf, or Sirius locked away by the enemy. And most peculiarly James and Lily were always together in her nightmares despite the fact that Beth thought they didn't get along very well.

As Beth pulled open the front doors to the castle, a most unpleasant face greeted her. "Oh, it's you, is it?" Marcia Griggs sneered as she unwrapped the green and silver scarf from around her neck.

"Yes, it's me. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to be on time for my Magical Creatures class." Beth attempted to brush past her, but Griggs held her hand up, a little surprised by the statement.

"You have that class? The 5th years are there right now."

"I'm just doing what Dumbledore asked me to do. He must think it a good opportunity to begin joining some classes."

The Slytherin smirked. "More like a punishment." She moved past Beth and into the corridor that would take her down to the dungeons and Slytherin dormitories.

Beth's gaze followed Griggs until she was out of sight, and then she stepped into the cold afternoon air. _What did she mean by punishment? Surely the class isn't all that bad. She's just trying to scare me again_, she resolved.

Oh, how Beth wished Marcia Griggs _**was**_ just trying to scare her. Her first shock came as she reached the rest of the students in her class. Her cousin, Dia, standing next to the fence, sneered as she caught Beth staring at her. _Please don't let this be happening! This is just another nightmare and not really happening._

Beth attempted to get another glance at Dia to make sure she wasn't dreaming when a sharp reply pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Miss Spenser, do you think you're so superior to the other students that you do not have to answer when being called?" Beth blushed, while the other students giggled or smirked.

"N-no, professor, I don't. I was just a little distracted, that's all." _She looks extremely familiar. Dark hair, pulled into a bun, and intense blue eyes._

"Well, we'll have no more of that. I am Professor Griggs, and this is Care of Magical Creatures." _Oh no, Griggs!_ "Today we will be working on taking care of bowtruckles. Miss Lyons, will you please partner up with Miss Spenser and show her how things are done in this class?"

Dia smiled sweetly at the professor and nodded but showed her opened disgust as soon as she turned back to face her cousin.

"So, it's class now too, is it?" She asked, working swiftly to inundate the bowtruckle.

"What?"

"You heard me," Dia looked up only momentarily.

"Dumbledore asked me to come to this class," Beth replied with a small bit of annoyance toward her cousin's attitude.

"And do you always do what people tell you to do?"

"Well he _is_ the headmaster. And of course I don't do everything people tell me to do. If I did then I wouldn't be friends with Remus, now would I?" Beth retorted, challenging Dia to answer.

Her face flushed, and she would have replied with something nasty, but Professor Griggs chose this moment to come over and assess the girls' progress.

"Very good, Miss Lyons, swiftly and gracefully done. Come on, Miss Spenser. This is a fairly simple task. I expect you to do it as well as your partner by the end of the lesson."

Beth wanted to cry with frustration, but she didn't dare utter a word about the unfairness the two were putting her through. _And the nightmares continue into the day._

As Beth tried to do her best with the bowtruckles, she watched her cousin in hidden amazement. Dia, it seemed, was very good at handling magical creatures. And the bowtruckles appeared to enjoy her company. Maybe there was a way to make things better…

"Dia, you're really good with these err…animals. You must be a natural with magical creatures."

Beth looked for Dia's reaction, as she fed wood lice to the bowtruckles. Dia unsuccessfully hid a small quiver in her lips that was the beginnings of a smile.

"You could do better if you'd just shut up and do the work you're supposed to."

"I suppose so." Beth smiled inwardly knowing she had gotten to Dia, even if just a little bit.

As hard as Beth tried to do a good job with the bowtruckles, Professor Griggs never could give her a positive comment. The sixteen-year-old was already beginning to fear that this class would turn out to be the opposite of what she had first thought: fun and easy. She left thoroughly disconcerted about the future of magical creatures' classes.

**  
Later at dinner, Beth picked at the shepherd's pie on her plate. The others noticed that Beth was rather quiet and prompted her to tell them what was wrong.

"Oh, it's nothing really," she stalled, "Care of Magical Creatures is a bit harder than I thought it would be. I have it with the 5th years. And the professor is rather err…stern." She failed to mention that her cousin was in the class.

"Oh, that Griggs woman. I'm glad I don't have to take that class anymore," huffed Lily.

"She always took points off our house," Sirius whined.

"That's because you were always causing trouble with the Slytherins," Alice pointed out.

"Don't worry, Beth. I'll help you with your studies since I'm in charge of that subject," offered Dorcas.

"You'll be more of an expert with Dorcas helping you," Morwenna added with a smile.

"Thanks for pulling me through all my studies. There's no way I could do it without all of you."

"No problem at all really. It was only natural for us to be the ones to tutor you since we're the best students at Hogwarts in quite a while," quipped James.

"Not that we like to brag or anything," Sirius smirked and winked at Beth.

All the girls rolled their eyes. "If only you two would stop being such arrogant pricks, maybe girls would actually want you for more than just a snogging session."

"What? Who wants girls for more than that?" Sirius asked, slightly surprised. Remus frowned and James wore a funny expression on his face.

"Speak for yourself, Sirius. I would very much like to settle down and share the rest of my life with a…certain girl someday." James glanced meaningfully at Lily.

The abrupt comment startled Lily, who had been watching James with curiosity. Her cheeks turned a slight pink if only for a moment.

As a slight awkwardness ensued in the group, Beth observed James and Lily's behavior as well as their expressions. _Hmm, things are beginning to make sense._

Conversation slowly began to return to normal, but Beth's mind drifted lost in its own thoughts. The noisiness of the Great Hall faded to silence, and the vision of her friends diminished into complete darkness.

**_She could feel herself walking without knowing where she was going. She continued on for what felt like an eternity. Everything was so silent one could hear a baby's whimpers and cries from a fair distance. And in fact that is what Beth did begin to hear as she walked along in the darkness._**

**"_Oh, Merlin, not now, not a baby."_**

**_With every step, the child's cries became louder and more often. Beth tried to run, hoping to help comfort the poor thing. Just as she decided to break out into a full-on run, she heard a scream that made her blood run cold, and she had to stop right where she was. How long she stood there as the screams continued she didn't know. Finally she seemed to get her bearings, and she again began to run as fast as she could. _**

**_With each passing moment, the screams and crying became infinitely louder. Beth attempted to search for whoever was in pain. The darkness would not allow for her to see anyone or anything. She called out hoping that she would be heard, but the only response she received was the screaming and crying._**

**_Time was running out, she had to get there, but she didn't seem to be getting any closer. It all became too much for her. She was tired from running and her senses were on overload. She could no longer continue because her legs were like rubber. She knelt down, the darkness and noise surrounding her. Her breathing was shallow, and she didn't know how much more she could take. She looked down at her knees and saw her family dead on the ground before unconsciousness overtook her._**

"Beth, Beth, what's going on? Are you alright?" She moaned in response. Her whole body was shaking, and she felt sick with fear. She attempted to open her eyes but even the dim lights of the Great Hall candles were too bright.

"Beth, can you hear me? Please answer us." She felt a hand on her face.

She tried desperately to get a hold of the structures in her mouth, so she could say something, anything. "Yes."

"Thank goodness, she's alive." Alice handed Remus a towel with cool water she had fetched from the Head table.

The rest of the boys watched anxiously while Remus tended to Beth, placing the towel on her forehead.

"Beth, can you tell us what happened to you?" asked Morwenna, her brow wrinkled with concern.

Beth thought about it in her head. What had happened to her? _I was helpless to even help a baby, that's what. What would they think of me if I told them about my nightmares? Probably think I've gone off my rocker. My family, I can't believe I saw my family! Okay calm down Elizabeth so you can answer._ "I had a bad dream, that's all."

"That's all!" Sirius exclaimed. Alice and Lily both shushed him.

"We don't need everyone knowing our business, Sirius Black!" whispered Dorcas, giving him a dirty look.

"You look like a bloody ghost, and you're shaking all over. It had to be more than just a 'bad dream,' Beth," he insisted.

"Sirius is right, Beth. You looked like you were having a small seizure during the dream. Do you remember what happened at all?" Remus took the towel off and put his hand on her forehead and cheek. His touch was warm and soothing. She realized that she was leaning against his chest. Beth didn't want to answer, but Remus' touch seemed to be taking control, making her want to tell them everything.

"Someone was hurt, and I was trying to help them, but I couldn't."

At once everyone began asking questions consisting of 'Why not, Where were you, and Who was it?'

"I don't know because it was so dark, but it was a baby. The cries were so loud, and as hard as I tried to run, I could never seem to get there."

"Are you sure you can't remember anything else?" Lily persisted, suspicious that the Beth might not be telling the total truth.

"No, just that someone was hurt…"

"Someone? You mean the baby or someone else?" Peter asked, confused.

"Yes, the baby…" Her voice trailed off not wanting to elaborate anymore. _What must my friends think of me? I bet nothing like this has happened to them. I hope they believe me. I still can't believe I saw my parents and grandparents. It was a horrible sight to see them dead like that. I wish they were alive again._

Thankfully discussion ended as Professor McGonagall came over to the table to assess the situation. "Miss Spenser, are you feeling alright? Miss Prewett tells me that you've fainted."

"Oh yes…professor. I'm alright now. I should be able to get up and walk about very soon." Professor McGonagall looked at Beth, not believing for minute that she was telling the truth.

"Perhaps Beth should be brought to the infirmary, Professor McGonagall. Madame Pomfrey can look her over and see if there's anything wrong."

"Yes, Mr. Potter, a good suggestion. Mr. Lupin, please assist Miss Spenser to the hospital wing as soon as she is able to walk. And Miss Spenser, please remember to take care of yourself. We can't have this happening regularly."

"Yes professor," they replied in unison.

Another ½ hour later, Remus was able to help Beth stand, and she could walk without stumbling too much. James looked on with envy, wanting very much to be able to have a good relationship with Lily, instead of what they had now, which was merely Lily tolerating James some of the time.

As the others watched the two slowly walk out of the Great Hall, movement caught their eyes further down the Gryffindor table. Dia had been watching and decided to pull out her wand. As she drew back to strike, suddenly she fell forward landing in her plate of food. The girls gasped audibly and turning back to the boys discovered that James had stunned her.

"James Potter! What have I told you about hexing people?" Lily was livid.

"Evans, she was going to hex Beth!" James protested, "And I only stunned her, no harm done right?" He looked to the other girls for support. Alice looked down at something suddenly very interesting on the table. Morwenna was pushing food around on her plate avoiding his gaze. Dorcas was the one to comment, "Staying out of this one we are," she muttered. Lily huffed and frowned. James looked disappointed and frowned as well.

"I think you did the right thing, mate. I'd rather have Dia out for a couple minutes than have Beth even worse off that she already is," announced Sirius. Peter nodded his head in agreement.

Lily glared at Sirius and Peter. Sirius ignored her but Peter looked rather scared. "Fix her, Potter," she growled.

"Of course, Lily Flower, now that the danger has passed." She gave him a short "humph" but said nothing. A moment or two was spent in awkward silence. Morwenna was the first to speak up.

"Since we're all here, I think we should discuss what our next course of action is regarding the Beth and Dia situation."

"Obviously there is something going on if Dia pulled her wand out on Beth." Dorcas offered her own input.

"So whatever action we're going to take, we need to do it as soon as possible."

"Yes, I agree, Alice." Morwenna turned to the boys. "We strongly urge you to start talking to Dia's exes if you haven't already, James."

"Why is it always me that gets addressed with issues like this?" Sirius clapped his arm around the messy-haired boy's shoulder.

"You must be the unspoken leader, James," smirked Sirius.

James put his hands up in defeat, "Alright, we'll work on the berks as soon as we can…" He stopped as he saw all the girls frowning at him.

"I'm sure they're alright blokes," Dorcas defended them. "After all, Remus was one of them."

"Err, yes, thank you for reminding us so kindly of his moment of insanity. "Speaking of him, do we have to talk to him too because I…"

"No, you dolt," Lily interrupted him. "We don't need him to be suspicious of what we're trying to do. He's not the idiot of the group. He'd figure it out quickly."

James stared at her uncharacteristically hurt by her comments during dinner. "Yes well, come on Sirius, Peter. We better start since most everyone is finished with dinner and leaving the Great Hall. We'll want to get a head start before Remus returns from taking Beth to the infirmary." He gave Lily one last glance before leaving with the other Marauders.

"Don't you think you were a little harsh on him today, Lily?" Alice took a bit of her treacle tart.

"I agree. He was just trying to help Beth and be of assistance to you," stated Morwenna. "You could have been a bit nicer to him."

"But, I…"

Dorcas yawned. "Save it for someone who cares, Lil. Haven't you noticed how much James has changed this year? I mean he's still a bit of a prick in his own way, but he's not nearly as mean or arrogant. I think he's learned some responsibility along the way, probably from the task of having to tutor Beth and having to juggle schoolwork along with Quidditch practices now that he's captain."

The four girls sat in silence with Lily considering what her friends had said. _I do feel a bit bad for the way I treated him. I'm just so used to him…It's like a learned response that I have whenever he tries to hex someone. I'm not saying Dia deserved it, but Beth certainly didn't need to be hurt. This isn't something I should be worrying about now._ She pushed thoughts of James and his growing maturity out of her head. _What we need to do is to come up with ways to catch Dia and Beth together._

Alice voiced her exact thoughts. "We need to find ways to catch Dia and Beth together."

"Or fix it so that they face one another when we're able to watch from afar," Dorcas added.

"But close enough that we'll be able to help Beth if anything happens," finished Morwenna.

"Exactly what I was thinking. I'm glad we make such a great team." Lily smiled, to let them know she wasn't mad at them for calling her on her mistake. The four girls quickly finished their desserts and made their way back to Gryffindor Tower to see how Beth and Remus as well as the Marauders were faring.

**  
Madame Pomfrey had given Beth more sleeping potions to help whenever she had nightmares. The Marauders and girls became exceedingly worried about her in the coming weeks. The boys unfortunately had not been successful with speaking to Dia's exes. The boys that Dia dated had nothing to add to what the 6th year Gryffindors already knew about the 5th year girl. And the girls had no more been successful with getting Beth alone with her cousin. This was most likely because she took to sticking with Remus whenever she could, as if she sensed what they were attempting to do.

At the closing of November the professors had piled on the homework, discouraging everyone despite the coming holidays. Voldemort had secretly attacked a few Muggle families, which heightened everyone in the wizard world's fear of the dark wizard. Following dinner one night on the last day of the month, Professor Dumbledore stood, quieting everyone in the Great hall.

"I know that it had been hard on all with the cancellation of Hogsmeade weekends. Therefore, the other professors and I have decided on a special event for you students. On the evening before you will go home for the holidays, there will be a concert featuring 'Merlin's Beard.'"

The effect was instantaneous. Students of all four house tables whispered amongst each other. The boys talked excitedly while the girls giggled and squealed with joy. The only students who didn't look as excited were Beth and a few Muggle-born 1st years. Dorcas noticed the expression on her face.

"You're in for a real treat, Beth. 'Merlin's Beard' is the newest all-wizard band to hit the music scene."

"Yes," agreed Lily, "they're comparable to the Beatles in the Muggle world." Beth's face lit up.

"I think in the next 30 years, the Beatles will be one of the greatest bands of all time," James added.

"You've heard of the Beatles and their music?" asked Lily, surprised and impressed.

"Of course, there are Muggles in the village where I live. The girls are always listening to them on that box thing. But I like their newer stuff better than the old songs."

Morwenna, Dorcas, and Alice exchanged significant looks as Lily and James actually engaged in friendly conversation about the Muggle music group. Beth, who was next to Sirius, leaned over to engage in a more private conversation.

"I'm much more looking forward to this concert now," Beth told him. "I hope Remus gets better soon. I don't know how he keeps up with everything when he's sick all the time (he had had to start using other excuses beside his mother being ill), especially having to visit his mother quite often too!" _There's something rather odd about Remus leaving all the time. I can't quite put my finger on it. I believe him though._

Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment. "He should be able to be there. I'll tell him to make sure he's there for you," he winked.

"No you won't, Sirius Black," whispered Beth. Sirius chuckled, and they silently decided to return to the others' conversation about upcoming exams.

**  
The following day was Beth's weekly Care of Magical Creatures class. They would be working on Knarls and naturally she would be stuck with Dia as a partner. Again Professor Griggs constantly gave praises to Dia for her good work. No matter how hard Beth tried she was impossible with it came to magical creatures, even with Dorcas tutoring her outside of class. To make matters more frustrating, Dia refused to talk to or help her during class. Beth continued to attempt to gain her trust and assistance, which usually would end in Dia doing whatever for Beth and then send large glares in her direction. Beth sighed and gave her the usual response, "Thanks Dia."

After class, Beth quickly made her way toward Gryffindor Tower to drop off her books. Unfortunately, Dia was headed that way as well. Beth was halfway up the stairs to go to the common room when Dia stopped her.

"I've been watching you, you know. You haven't been listening to me. Why is it so hard to stay away from him?"

Beth stopped walking in mid-step and turned around. "I have learned that it is impossible to be able to follow your request. Therefore, I have decided that it would be wise to no longer fear you instead. I have done nothing to deserve your hatefulness of me. What is it that you want of me Dia? What do you want me to do?"

"What I want of you, you stubbornly will not do. Therefore I will have to teach you a lesson." Dia pulled out her wand, training it directly on Beth.

Beth no sooner knew what she was doing then she also had her wand out ready to fight. She was nervous but the adrenaline pumping pushed the fear inside of her away. While watching her cousin she heard a noise from behind but was afraid to look in case Dia decided to hex her.

"Family dueling in the corridor? What is the world coming to?" Beth recognized the voice instantly. Marcia Griggs was undoubtedly behind her. She was trapped.

"Family? She's no family of mine. You and your mother are the only ones that have really been there for me. Did you know Elizabeth? Professor Griggs and Marcia have so graciously accepted me into their home beginning the summer after my first year. I certainly did not want to go back to your disgusting Muggle-loving family. You see my new family prefers to be associated with purebloods and I agree with their philosophy."

"And what philosophy would that be, Dia?" Beth had finally found her voice.

"That any one less than pureblood should not be allowed rights and privileges as those of us who are. That would include your friend, Lily Evans, being that she is a Mudblood." Marcia laughed from behind her.

_What in the world did she just call Lily? _Beth tried to hide her confusion but Dia noticed anyway.

"What, no one has ever taught you that word? It is a very useful word. Literally it means dirty blood. Perfect for those who contaminate our race with less than pure blood, don't you think Marcia?"

Marcia laughed. "Oh yes, yes of course. It is a good title for perfect Prefect Evans."

Beth could feel the anger rise within her. _How dare they talk about my friends like that? I don't care what it takes I'm going to figure out how to fight Dia. Hmm, what would be the best spell to use against her?_

"Enough of this chatter. I'm going to finish what I started and should have done a long time ago." Dia steadied her wand in ready position to strike. Beth followed suit. "On the count of 3…"

_What spell should I use? Think quickly. Reducio? No, I don't think I can muster up one of that strength._ "1…"_ Engorgio? Certainly not._ "2…" _Petrificus Totalus, the one I used with Remus in my first lesson. Yes of course!_

"3!" Beth held her wand ready to duel, just like Remus had briefly taught her only a couple weeks ago. As she struggled to finish the motions to the full body bind that she could perform so perfectly before, Dia shot a spell her way.

"Evanesco!" At first the light from Dia's wand moved quickly toward its target. Then she and the Slytherin watched in shock as the spell slowed almost to a stop before surrounding the 16-year-old Gryffindor.

Beth knew she wouldn't be able to block whatever had been thrown at her nor did she have time to dive out of the way. And so she too stood completely baffled as the spell coming toward her arrested in midair. She could feel its ripple emitting a powerful source of energy. _Why is this happening? It's almost like I'm in control of the spell that Dia sent, just like Remus mentioned that people could do magic without a wand in the first few days of my arrival here at the castle. So if I can control it, maybe I can throw it back at her!_

Beth put her hands up desperate to try anything. She could feel the energy increase tenfold. _Oh no!_ She screamed as loud as she could, or she hoped she was loud enough for anyone else besides Griggs and her cousin to hear. Darkness prevailed as she fell to the floor.


	8. Banishing or Vanishing?

Chapter 8 Banishing or Vanishing?

"AHHHHHH!" The girls and Marauders were just coming out of Charms when they heard a high pitched scream coming from a few floors above. They looked at one another for a moment and then took off for the staircase leading to the upper floors.

As they neared the 6th floor corridor, they spotted Dia hunched over her cousin, Beth, and the Slytherin, Marcia Griggs, standing to the side.

Sirius ran ahead of the others and crouched down to look at Beth. "Figures you would do something like this, Lyons," he said without looking up.

"I-I-I..."

"For your information, Black," Griggs interrupted. "Lyons was trying to duel with me and Spenser stepped in between us."

Everyone looked suspiciously at the pair. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick arrived at the scene suddenly. "What is the meaning of all this?" McGonagall looked from Beth to Dia to the rest of the Gryffindors.

"It seems that Beth stepped in front of a spell meant for Griggs, Professor." Dorcas spat. Sirius had never seen her so angry.

"Who was witness to this?" Flitwick chimed in.

"We just heard the scream and came running. Dia, Griggs, and Beth are the only witnesses." Morwenna tried to explain calmly but she was clearly upset as well.

"Can everyone involved confirm this story?" McGonagall looked from Griggs to Dia, who still appeared to be in shock.

"Miss Lyons, are you alright? Were you hurt as well?" Dia looked up at her blankly before finally coming around after another moment.

"Uh, yes Professor, I'm alright," she gulped. "I didn't know she would do that." She, of course, meant fail to disappear, but everyone, except Griggs, took it to mean step in front of the spell.

"Yes, well, exactly what spell did you use Miss Lyons?" the Charms professor inquired.

"I used a..."

"She used a Banishing charm, professors," Griggs cut in.

"A banishing charm that knocked her out where she stood?" Lily asked, suspicious of what was really going on.

"Yeah, how in the world could that happen?" James agreed, equally suspicious of the whole situation. Lily shot him a look.

Dia gathered herself and stood. "Yes it was a banishing charm meant for Griggs, of course. Maybe it was just too powerful and knocked her out. How was I supposed to know that my cousin would try to be brave and save a Slytherin?"

"Why you little..." Sirius made to move toward Dia, but stopped when Alice spoke.

"Don't flatter yourself Dia. You're not that powerful a witch," she shot back.

"That's quite enough. Miss Lyons head to my office, Miss Griggs report to your head of house. You both will be dealt with accordingly." McGonagall turned toward the remaining Gryffindors. "Miss Evans, I trust that you and your friends can safely bring Miss Spenser to the hospital wing to be looked at by Madame Pomfrey?"

"Professor McGonagall, you will punish Lyons severely, won't you? You have to know that she was lying. She could have killed Beth!" James spoke up.

"You leave that up to me, Mr. Potter. When you have the authority, then you can deal with situations the way you would." She gave them a stern look before turning and walking away with Professor Flitwick.

Sirius snorted. "Like you would ever be given authority, James."

"Hey I have authority over you and Peter, don't I?" he grinned.

"You wish, James." It was the girls turn to snort.

"Come on boys. We need to get Beth to the infirmary. You can finish your argument later." Dorcas quipped.

"Fine, but we're not arguing. It's a heated discussion," smirked Sirius.

The girls rolled their eyes, and Lily performed the spell to levitate Beth to the hospital wing.

"So Lily, now do you agree that Dia deserves to be hexed?" James fell into step with her.

"Stuff it, Potter." She concentrated on keeping Beth levitated instead of looking at him.

"James, Lily. It's James." He shoved his hands in his pockets not wanting to mess with his hair. He had taken to noticing recently that that really annoyed her.

"So what do you think of the whole Beth-Dia situation? Do you believe their story? Personally, I think that Dia was trying to intentionally hurt Beth, but she covered her tracks so she wouldn't get in trouble."

Lily sighed. "Yes I agree. But what I'm more worried about is that that Slytherin seemed like she was trying to help her avoid getting in trouble. I mean wouldn't Griggs want to see a Gryffindor get into trouble?"

"Yeah well maybe they're friends. That would explain Dia's evilness."

"That makes absolutely no sense."

"Sure it does. Dia becomes friends with Griggs. Griggs influences her to become evil and think the way she does. Then they both go off to work for Voldemort when they graduate Hogwarts."

"That's not even funny." _Why does he have to make sense at the most inconvenient times?_

James could see by the expression on Lily's face that she was inclined to agree but he knew that her stubbornness would win out and she would never admit it.

"If Dia did hex Beth on purpose for no apparently good reason, then perhaps she deserves to be given a taste of her own medicine." James heart leapt. _She agreed with me!_ "And no that doesn't give you license to plan a prank or hex her either." He frowned. _Well at least Lily agreed with me. Yes!_

**  
When the Gryffindors arrived with Beth at the infirmary, Madame Pomfrey was attending to Remus. As soon as he saw Beth, he attempted to get out of bed.

"No, Mr. Lupin. You are to stay right where you are." The nurse hurried over to where Lily had laid Beth on an empty bed. "Oh sweet Merlin, not this child again. She's seen me one too many times this school year, and it's only been two months. What on earth happened to her this time?"

"She was hit with a spell, Madame Pomfrey, but we're not sure which one. It was her cousin, Dia." Alice looked from the nurse to where Remus was lying on his bed.

"Her own family? What is wrong with the world today?"

"Dia tried to hex Beth?" Remus asked incredulously.

"Yeah, mate," responded Sirius. "She supposedly hit her with a Banishment charm, but the whole thing is a bit suspect."

"Come on, Remus, you have to remember that first night when Dia realized that Beth was here. She practically cursed her right there," added James.

"Yeah, and we know that sh…" Peter began before Dorcas stepped on his foot.

Remus raised his eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"Alright now, everyone out so I can work. I'm sure you all have homework to do." Madame Pomfrey set about shooing them out of the hospital wing.

After she was finished making sure that Beth was in stable condition and that Remus was comfortable, which seemed to take forever, the nurse went into her office and closed the door. When Remus was sure that she wouldn't return, he jumped off his bed and made his way over to Beth.

"What predicament have you gotten yourself into now, Miss Spenser?" he teased. He took her hand in his and sat down in a chair next to the bed. He stayed there in silence wishing that he could tell her how he felt and how beautiful she was to him. When he became too tired to sit in the chair, he stood and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He watched her for a moment and was turning to go to his own bed when he could have sworn he saw Beth's finger move slowly as if she were trying to hold something. Remus watched her a bit longer but then shook his head resigned to the fact that he must have been seeing things.

*2 hours later*

As Remus still lay awake with his curtains drawn thinking about Beth, he noticed a flash of light coming from beyond the white sheet. He drew them away and was about to get up but stopped immediately when he heard whispering coming from Beth's bedside.

"Who's there?" He rushed over to find no one there, but he heard the infirmary door close with a click. He ran out of the hospital wing to see if he could find out who had been in there, but there was no one in sight. He was sure someone had been there.

Worried that whoever would return, Remus took residence in the chair at Beth's bedside, laying his head on the bed next to her arm.

**  
"Remus…" The boy looked up to see Beth touching her face where he had kissed her on the cheek. She opened her eyes which were a bit unfocused. She attempted to smile but she still appeared to be coming out of her unconscious state. Remus was about to ask about what had happened with her cousin, but Madame Pomfrey chose to come in at that time.

"Oh good you're awake. How do you feel?" she asked.

"Tired," yawned Beth.

"Good, now that you're awake, you can tell me what happened," Remus interjected, his face lined with worry.

"Mr. Lupin, I'll have to ask you to go back to your own bed if you begin to badger my other patients." She tried to move him away from Beth's bed.

Remus easily broke her grasp on him and moved closer to Beth. "No, Madame Pomfrey, I have to know. It's important."

"It's alright Madame Pomfrey." Beth gave another big yawn. "It's all very hazy but I remember standing in front of Marcia Griggs and Dia shot a spell at me and I tried to stop it but I couldn't and it hit me." She yawned again. "I'm really tired…" She began to drift off again.

_I have to know! _Remus gently grabbed her head to face him. "Beth, tell me, what spell did Dia use?"

"Mr. Lupin, that is quite enough and…" The nurse again attempted to pull him away from the bed.

"…anishing…" Beth whispered softly.

They both stopped and looked down at the patient. What, Beth?"

"…anishing…" Remus tried to read her lips, but they barely moved, so he couldn't tell if she was saying banishing or vanishing. _That would make a world of a difference if she's saying vanishing! The difference between moving something away from you and trying to make something disappear!_

"Say it again, Beth, so we can understand you." But she was silent.

"What's going on? Is Beth awake yet?" Sirius inquired as the remaining 6 Gryffindors came into the hospital wing.

Remus took his hands off of Beth's face and placed them on the bedside. "She was for a couple minutes and trying to tell us what happened."

So what happened then?" Peter asked eagerly.

"I don't know." Remus pushed the strands of hair in Beth's face out of the way. They all watched as she suddenly grabbed his arm away from her face, making him gasp in surprise.

"Is she awake now?" James asked, confused because Beth's eyes were closed.

All 9 watched in amazement when they realized that Beth began to move around in her bed still in an unconscious state. Her right hand looked like it was reaching into her robes for her wand. She started waving her hand around and moving her mouth as if she was performing an incantation. Then she ceased what she was doing and raised her hands, attempting to stop something from happening. Suddenly Beth's eyes opened wide, making everyone in the room jump back except Remus whose arm was still in the comatose girl's death grip. As soon as her eyes closed, she began the whole scene again.

"What is that she's doing—a spell?" Alice moved closer to get a better look at Beth's arm movements.

"It looks like the Full-Body Bind I taught her, though she seems to be struggling with it." Remus winced, wanting very much for Beth to let go of him but she tightened her hold on his arm every time she started the sequence over.

"What in Merlin's name is she doing there?" Morwenna asked when she saw Beth put her hands up a second time.

Everyone jumped again when Beth's eyes flew open in surprise, even though they knew that part was coming. "She looks like she's in a bit of pain," frowned Lily.

Beth's eyes closed again, and she repeated the scene several more times with all of them watching. At times to she appeared to go through the sequence slower than other times.

Madame Pomfrey watched with increasing interest in this particular effect. Her attention was caught when Remus gasped as Beth tightened on his arm and began to speed up her game of charades. "Hmm, I wonder…" she began. "Mr. Lupin, hold Miss Spenser's left hand firmly in both of yours. I'm not completely sure, but I think you seem to be having some sort of an effect on her."

Remus blushed a little bit but did as he was told. As Beth started on another repetition of the scene, she also spoke about what she was seeing.

"…Petrificus Totalus…Dia spell…quickly…stopped…surround me…no wand, Remus…" Her eyes flew open again.

"No wand, Remus? What does that mean?" James looked at his werewolf friend.

Remus tried to think about what that could mean. _Sounds familiar for some reason. In all my conversations with her, what have we talked about? My condition,_ he grimaced, _her family, her magical powers…_

"Have you ever talked to Beth about wandless magic, Remus?" Lily interrupted him from his thoughts.

"Once in the beginning, I said that you could do magic with and without a wand."

"And you did mention that attempting magic without a wand could be highly dangerous if it's not controlled?" added Morwenna.

"Err, no I failed to mention that one. It was just in the very beginning. I didn't even consider it important at the time." All the girls, including Madame Pomfrey, gave him a disapproving look.

As Remus continued to hold Beth's hand, the rest of Beth's body appeared to become more stiff and agitated.

Alice was worried. "I don't think this is doing any good for her. Look at the way she's lying in the bed. She's got to stop or she'll throw herself into shock."

Everyone was listening except for Remus. He had other ideas at the moment. He was concentrating on knowing the truth about the spell used on Beth. He held her hand tightly in his left hand and caressed her cheek gently with his right. "Come on Beth, you've got to tell us. What was the spell that Dia used?" _I have to know if Dia tried to hurt her. I'll make sure that no one ever hurts her again._

"…anishing…spell…"

"See, Madame Pomfrey, there she goes again. I think I'm helping her. She seems to be getting what she wants across to us." Everyone looked at each other, unconvinced that Beth was getting better. Remus continued on. "Beth, was it a spell or a charm? The Banishing charm or the Vanishing spell?"

"…spell…charm…spell…"

"Tell me, Beth, tell me now, please," Remus urged. James put his hand on Remus' shoulder.

"Mate, it's alright. She can tell you when she wakes."

"No, James. What if she doesn't wake, ever? I have to know what she was hurt with." The girls and Marauders had never seen Remus so upset. "Why would anyone want to hurt her?" he said to no one in particular.

Attention turned back to Beth suddenly when her body started to convulse. Remus dropped Beth's hand back onto her bed. Madame Pomfrey was thrown into a panic. "Mr. Lupin, I want you back in your bed right now. Everyone must leave the infirmary this instant. Hurry and find Professor Dumbledore."

"There is no need, as I am here." Everyone turned to see the headmaster entering the hospital wing.

"Oh good." The nurse breathed a quick sigh of relief, but she continued with trying to stabilize the tiny Gryffindor girl. "I think Miss Spenser may need to go to St. Mungo's. Her condition has rapidly declined in the last 15 minutes or so. No one seems to be able to tell me what she was hit with, so there's not much I can do for her."

Beth became very still as quickly as she began to shake. The nurse's eyes widened and she immediately began to check Beth's vital signs. "She's not breathing and her pulse is extremely slow," she announced.

"Madame Pomfrey, quickly go to your fireplace and contact someone at St. Mungo's who can come look at Miss Spenser," Professor Dumbledore instructed.

"Yes, of course." She looked scared to leave a patient in such a condition, but she did as she was told. After a minute or two, the nurse returned with a mediwitch.

The woman checked Beth over. "She will be fine," she stated. She put her wand over Beth and muttered a few incantations. Everyone relaxed as Beth took in a deep breath of air. "Hmm, how very odd. Seems she's had a bad reaction to some kind of spell. The strange thing is that I can usually tell what kind, but this time I cannot." The students tried to hide their disappointment at her findings.

Dumbledore watched the Gryffindors before answering the mediwitch. "Yes, well thank you for coming on such short notice."

"No thanks needed headmaster. It was an emergency. Can't have students dying on us now can we? They are the future after all." Dumbledore nodded his head in agreement. "Well, I wish I could be of more help, but I need to be getting back to the hospital. However if you need me again, you know where to reach me." And with that said, she left as quickly as she came.

"I suggest that you students leave the hospital wing. Miss Spenser needs her rest. You can come visit her when she wakes."

Madame Pomfrey checked Beth over one more time before going to her office. The Gryffindors gave Beth one last glance before turning to leave with Professor Dumbledore. Remus stood numb as to what had just happened. Slowly he was aware of his ever-growing exhaustion. With an enormous amount of disbelief and guilt on his shoulders, he walked over to his bed and punched the mattress in anger. _I almost killed her! What kind of person am I? A monster…_

**  
Remus was reading his Transfiguration book when he heard Beth stir in the bed next to him. "Beth?" _Okay I'm not going to talk about what happened unless she says something about it._

"Remus?" She turned to look at him. "What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise.

"Remember, I'm sick so I'm staying in the hospital wing till I get better." He put his book down and moved closer to her.

"Oh, you seem to be sick a lot, you know." She sat up in bed. "What's making you sick?"

_Oh, Merlin, here we go…_ Remus took a deep breath. "Well I sort of have this condition that comes and goes about once a month, but don't worry about me."

"Is it sort of like what girls go through once a month?" Beth inquired innocently.

Remus' eyes widened in surprise as his cheeks reddened. "Err, yes, I never thought of it that way, but I suppose so."

"Um, is it," she grimaced, "contagious or anything?"

Remus almost laughed. "No, Beth. Only if my, err, I happen to bite you."

Beth laughed out loud. "That's a bit of an odd way to transmit something. You're such a joker sometimes, Remus." He smiled to reassure her. "I promise I won't allow you to bite me." She giggled at the silliness of it all, while Remus tried to put on a poker face. Beth became serious once again. "Though I wouldn't mind if I had to share your sickness with you."

The werewolf's poked face slipped, and he paled. "You wouldn't want to be sick like me, Beth. It's much more painful than you think it is."

"Oh. Well when will you be sick next?" Remus was relieved that she didn't ask more about his actual condition.

He did the calculation in his head. "Um, probably a few days after Christmas."

"That's good then. I wouldn't want it to ruin your Christmas. Will you be going home or staying here for the holiday?"

"Most likely staying here. My mom is doing a bit better than usual. She suggested that I stay here this Christmas. Sometimes it's a bit lonely there. With the doctors making such a fuss, I don't really get to see her much. Besides I have to make sure you don't get yourself into any more trouble," he smirked.

Beth's face reddened. "Well I suppose I might need your help. Can I come visit you in the hospital wing when you're sick then?"

Remus' smile faltered a bit. _Oh great. _"Maybe, only if you come during the day. I need my rest at night." The two sat and talked some more, but Remus, as he promised to himself, didn't bring up what happened with Dia because he was afraid of upsetting Beth again.

**  
A week and a half had passed. During that time, Beth attempted to catch up on her studies. She was learning about more advanced Potions from Severus, more magical creatures and plants from Dorcas and Alice, and various other spells and charms from James and Lily. Morwenna and Peter were testing her with all kinds of historical facts. And Remus was determined to teach Beth how to duel so she could protect herself.

Soon it was the Saturday before the Christmas holiday would begin, and all of the Gryffindors were together in the Room of Requirement.

"Alright, Beth, I'm going to be right behind to catch you. Lily, come try the banishment charm on Beth."

Lily looked up from her books. "What? No way, Remus. I might be too strong for her. Let James do it."

James got up from the floor. "You don't have to gloat just because you're doing better in Charms than I am." He was still miffed about her getting 1 more point than he did on their last exam.

As James readied himself, Beth stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. "Will this hurt, Remus?"

It shouldn't if James does it right, and he always does things right." James nodded, while the rest of the girls snorted.

Beth looked at James and then back to Remus. "Ready then?" he smiled to reassure her. She nodded in return. "Ready, James?" He nodded as well. "Okay, 1…2…3."

Beth could feel a funny tickling as the spell hit her, but she became fearful as it lifted her a little off the ground. Before she knew it, she was in Remus' arms.

"How did that feel?" he asked, concerned.

She turned around to face him. "It tickled a bit, but I guess I'm all right."

"Well I guess that wasn't it then." He smiled, satisfied with the results. He had had a feeling that the banishment charm wasn't the spell that had been used on Beth.

"I was sure that's what it was. That's what I keep hearing whenever I see it." Beth suddenly had an idea. "I want to try something. You stay there." She turned around. "And James, stay there with your wand at the ready, but don't shoot anything at me, okay?" He nodded again.

The others looked on as Beth re-enacted the run-in with Dia this time in her conscious state. She ran back and forth in front of Remus a few times like she was trying to block a spell from hitting him. "No, that's not right." Then she stood in front of him with her eyes closed and wand out, waiting for the spell to hit her in her mind.

After a several tries of re-enactment in her mind, she sat down on the floor frustrated. "I don't know. I'll never remember. It's like that part has been blocked out. I'm getting tired. I need to sleep." And a mattress appeared from her to rest on.

The others quietly gathered their things as it was time for lunch. "I'll stay behind to make sure she's all right," whispered Remus to them.

He walked to the mattress and sat down next to it. _A nap sounds really nice actually. Perhaps if this was a little bigger._ And the mattress grew to fit two. He took her hand in his and fell asleep instantly.

**  
Remus had been watching Beth sleep for an hour now after he had woken up from his own refreshing nap.

"Oh! You scared me, Remus. I didn't realize you were still here."

"Yeah," he smirked, "someone has to make sure you're okay."

She sighed. "I'm sorry I really wish I could remember what happened. I feel like I'm letting everyone down."

"It's okay…Beth…" She looked up at him when he stopped and followed his gaze to the papers with the list of spells on them.

Remus quickly stood and grabbed at the parchment. "Here have a look at these. See if you recognize any as the one that hit you."

Beth scrutinized both pieces of parchment carefully. She studied the charms first and then the defense spells. "No, none of these seem familiar to me except for learning them from you and Lily. Wait, I'm remembering something." Beth attempted to picture what she had heard Dia say instead of reading her lips.

"Co...con…" she attempted to put different parts of words together.

"Confundo?" Remus tried to guess what she was thinking of.

"No, I don't think so. Nes…Avad...Oh, I don't know anymore."

"Hey I have an idea. Let's go down to dinner. There's something I need to ask James. We can worry about this later."

_Dinner! No, I couldn't possible go and face Dia after what she did to me. I know I shouldn't be afraid of her anymore, but I don't want her to send that same spell, whatever it was. Next time she could succeed!_

"I'm not really all that hungry." Her stomach growled giving herself away.

"You have to eat something. We haven't had anything since we had breakfast up here. How about some tea?"

"Well alright, but how will we...?" Beth stopped as a tea pot and two cups along with some crumpets and scones appeared before them. Remus smiled and handed her one of the cups of tea. As Beth ate, Remus was able to call James' owl to the room so that he could send a message to him in the Great Hall.

Following dinner, the other Gryffindors appeared with a list of Transfiguration spells for Beth to look over. That had apparently been what Remus requested of James. Beth ran her fingers down the two columns. The first column contained the type of spell and the second, the incantation used.

_Evanesco? That sounds familiar. The Vanishing spell._ "This one..." Remus who was standing behind her grabbed the parchment and began dancing around.

"Yes! I knew that was the right one!"

"Just wait until Professor McGonagall finds out. She'll be furious that Dia was trying make you disappear!" James tried to contain his own glee.

"And Professor Dumbledore as well," added Peter.

"Perhaps she'll be given several detentions then," smiled Alice.

"I'd rather her suspended." Dorcas and Morwenna replied at the same time.

"Or the best yet, expelled from Hogwarts!" Lily covered her mouth, realizing she had gotten caught up in the moment.

Beth eyes widened in surprise. "NO!"


	9. December Drama

Chapter 9 December Drama

Oh, Merlin, what have I said? Dia will get into trouble and maybe even expelled if I say she said something that I'm not even sure she said. I can't turn away from her just because she's been awful to me.

"No? What do you mean, 'no'?" Remus asked rather confused and taken aback that the Vanishing spell might not be the answer.

"I'm not sure if that's really what it was. I'm still uncertain about what happened, Remus. I don't want to tell people things if I'm not sure about what I'm saying."

Everyone looked rather disappointed. "Well if that's what you want." Remus took the parchment of spells and attached them back on the wall.

_Phew! That was a close one! I ought to be more careful about things like that._ Beth was relieved but sensed that the others were a bit disappointed about the outcome. "I would like to learn some more spells tonight if anyone is up to it," she offered.

"Let's teach her the Bat-Bogey Hex." Sirius jumped up from his spot on the floor and put away the parchment he was poking and prodding.

"I don't even want to know, Sirius. Regular and useful spells that I'll need to survive on my own would be appreciated."

"Oh it's useful, alright, isn't Peter?" Peter frowned at him. "Peter's been on the receiving end a couple of times. Don't suppose he likes that one too much. It's not like we don't know the counter-spell."

"What about the Vanishing spell?" offered Remus. The girls groaned.

"Uh, Remus, give it a rest, mate. That's fifth year work that is. And Beth is only on third-year spells and charms. That's my area of expertise, and I get to say when she's ready for that sort of transfiguration."

Remus stared at James for a moment before speaking. "You're right, I suppose. Sorry, Beth, didn't mean to get carried away like that. If you lot don't need me I think I'm going to lie down for a bit." And he left without another word or glance in their direction.

_I'm not sure what just happened here. Why does Remus keep pushing this Vanishing spell? I suppose I could see why if that really was the spell that Dia hit me with, but I don't know that and neither does he. Why would he suddenly want her to get into trouble?_ Beth shook her head. _I just don't understand._

"Beth?" Lily attempted get her attention.

"What? Oh, yes Lily?"

"You said you wanted to learn some more spells. We all decided on teaching you some fourth-year charms and defense spells. That way you'll be able to protect yourself if you ever need to."

"Okay, sounds like a good idea."

**  
The morning of the last day before the holidays began with a light snowfall and the sun shining on the castle to wake the students up for class. This also meant that the concert with Merlin's Beard would to be that evening. Hogwarts' students could hardly concentrate during their lessons, and everyone was a bit more enthusiastic about leaving class then need be, much to the professors' annoyance.

Later that day the Gryffindors made their way down to the Great Hall where the concert would be held. They were amazed, Beth in particular, at the beautiful Christmas decorations that had been put out this year. Even dry snow was falling from the ceiling. The increasing excitement within the students could be felt as the moments passed. When it seemed like the whole school was in attendance, Professor Dumbledore stepped onto the stage where the musicians' instruments were set up.

"Well, this is a moment you all have been waiting for and for quite some time, so without further delay, I introduce to you Merlin's Beard." All the students applauded and screamed as the band arrived onstage.

"Hello, Hogwarts' students!" The lead singer greeted them. Their screams became even louder as they attempted to respond to him. "We're going to play a few songs for you tonight, and we hope that you'll enjoy them as much as we like singing them. Well, we'll start out with a song that most of you know. It goes a little bit like this…" The lead guitarist began to play the intro of the first song. The crowd went wild, as they recognized the tune.

"This is 'Sweet Witch Of Mine.'" Remus leaned in closer to Beth. She turned her head sharply toward him. He suddenly realized what he had said and looked back at the musicians playing, trying to hold down the red that was creeping into his cheeks.

Beth watched Remus for a moment before turning back to listen to the song. On her right she heard laughter. Sirius had grabbed Alice and was twirling her around to the music. She saw James tapping his foot glancing down at Lily every so often, probably wishing he could do the same thing that Sirius had just done. Beth shook her head. _Poor James. I think he really does like Lily. She just doesn't see it. Maybe someday…_

A few upbeat songs later, Merlin's Beard decided to slow things down and play their newer hit, 'Goodbye Kiss To You.' Beth noticed that Sirius was dancing with Morwenna, Alice with Frank Longbottom, and James had managed to convince Lily to dance with him.

There was a throat being cleared next to her. "Uh, Beth. Would you like to dance?" Remus held out his hand for her to take.

"Sure, Remus." She slipped her left hand in his right, and he put his other arm around her back. They danced with their hands intertwined. As they moved around the floor, Beth took in the scene before them. Many couples danced very close to one another. Other girls and guys dancing together looked like they felt awkward.

As Remus and Beth turned to face the stage, Beth saw Sirius wink at her. She wanted to make a face at him, but instead she smiled back. Everything seemed perfect. Remus was holding her in his arms, having an awkward time looking at her for very long but still Beth felt like she could have stayed like that forever. "Remus?"

He finally glanced down at her without that awkward look on his face and seemed to be enjoying himself. "Yes, Beth?"

"Do you like…" _Me, me, me._ "…this song?"

"It's kind of sad, but I think it's a good song. Why? What do you think of it?"

"I would hope I'd never have to experience something so awful. Could you imagine?" She stared directly into his eyes.

"No, I couldn't imagine. I don't know who would ever want to leave you. They would have to be off their rocker." He gave her a sort of half smile but then turned back to looking around the room.

_Yes, I could stay like this forever._

Unfortunately though the night did end all too quickly. But not before Merlin's Beard played many more songs, such as 'Full Moon Rising,' 'Sunset Handholding,' and 'Gnome-filled Garden.' At midnight, the students dispersed and everyone made their way to their respective places of slumber. Beth and Remus walked toward Gryffindor Tower a little ahead of the rest of their friends. Remus had grabbed her hand to help her exit the Great Hall amongst the other students, but he was still holding it as they climbed the flight of stairs to the 7th floor. When they heard stifled laughter behind them, they stopped and turned around.

"What's so funny?" asked Beth.

"Oh, it's just that….oof." Alice had elbowed Sirius in the stomach.

"It's nothing, just Sirius being stupid, that's all."

"Come on, I'm tired, and we have a long trip ahead of us tomorrow." Lily yawned and walked past them all.

"Let's go Sirius. We still haven't finished packing. I'd really love to stay here but you know mum." James turned toward Alice, Dorcas, and Morwenna. "Hey, do you think we could share the same train compartment?"

"I don't know, James. Lily wouldn't like it. She likes her space…" Alice began.

"I think we can smuggle them in before she can say anything," smirked Dorcas.

James smiled back. "That's the ticket." The six of them walked past Beth and Remus, seemingly forgetting that they were still there. Beth yawned loudly.

"Well, bedtime for you, Miss Spenser," teased Remus.

"Alright, dad," Beth replied sarcastically.

Remus looked thoughtful. "Me, a dad? I don't think so. Not for a long time anyway." He smiled at Beth, who returned it.

"Bedtime, then?" Beth asked. Remus nodded in agreement.

**  
In the first days of the holiday, Beth and Remus found that they were two of the very few that were staying at Hogwarts for Christmas. They were the only ones from Gryffindor besides Dia. A handful of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs greeted them as they came down for meal times. Slytherins, Marcia Griggs and Severus Snape, appeared to be their normal grim selves. And Professor Dumbledore had insisted that everyone including the teachers sit at one table.

After dinner one evening, Professor McGonagall pulled Beth aside. "Miss Spenser, the headmaster has requested that I accompany you to Diagon Alley and Gringotts Bank. I have some time a couple days before Christmas. We'll go on the 23rd, is that all right with you?"

"That's fine professor. I'm looking forward to it."

**  
At any other time of day, Remus and Beth could be seen together in the Room of Requirement. He had decided to teach her new spells over the holiday so that she wouldn't fall behind in her studies. Severus also insisted on having lessons so that she could be ahead of schedule in Potions. So in the morning Beth spent her time in the dungeons, and then after lunch joined Remus for her other lessons.

On the morning she would go to Gringotts, Beth had just finished Potions and was packing away her equipment and books. "Severus, before you go, I have something for you." He turned and looked at her. "You know, for Christmas."

He briefly looked surprised but quickly hid his shock. He held her gaze waiting for whatever she had to give him.

Beth considered him. She was getting quite intuitive about his thoughts over time. "You don't have to hide your emotions around me, you know. It's okay to show you're surprised that I would give you a gift. I consider you a friend, and friends give presents." He gave her a small scowl. "Well I don't expect anything in return, so don't worry." She smiled at him.

"I wasn't worried," he replied stiffly.

"Severus, you are a peculiar one. I think that you're trying to be my friend, and then again that you're not trying at all."

"I am merely attempting to teach you what you need to know in Potions so that you can use it when you leave Hogwarts."

"Stop kidding yourself. I don't think you would have helped me unless you had some interest in doing so." She picked up her bag. "I have to go see Professor McGonagall. She's taking me to Diagon Alley so I can run some errands."

"Is she?" Severus asked with interest this time. "Must be some special errands if she's going out of her way to bring you herself."

"Well I have no one else to take me. Professor Dumbledore is busy, and I have to go with an adult. I'm just getting my affairs in order. Cleaning things up from…before. Anyway, here you go. Happy Christmas!" She shoved the present in his hand and left the dungeon classroom.

_I must owl Lucius at once._

**  
Snow began to fall lightly around the streets of Diagon Alley as Professor McGonagall and Beth walked toward Gringotts bank.

"Professor McGonagall, what a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect to run into you here." A silky voice reached their ears.

Professor McGonagall put her arm on Beth's shoulder, and Beth could feel her stiffen. "Why yes, I'm just here with one of our students who needed to make an emergency trip to the village."

A tall blond-haired boy of about 22 looked down at Beth. "If I may introduce myself, I am Lucius Malfoy." He held out his hand for her to shake.

"Beth, Elizabeth Spenser." She offered her own hand.

"Oh, this is her professor? I read in the Daily Prophet about your grandparents. It is such a tragedy to lose an extremely talented and wealthy pureblood family. I'm sure you'll live up to their name by becoming a powerful witch."

All Beth could do was stare and nod her head. "Yes, I plan to."

"Good, good. Well I must be off to a Ministry meeting. I plan on being on the board of school governors some day. I want to ensure that the students are getting a good education at Hogwarts."

As I can assure you that they are, Mr. Malfoy. We must be getting along as well. Good day to you." Lucius nodded his head and made his way toward the direction of the Ministry of Magic.

"Professor, are you okay? Is there something wrong with him? He seemed nice enough to me."

"I'm quite all right, Miss Spenser." She evaded her second question. "Mr. Malfoy is very well-mannered young man. He is respected in the wizarding community even in his early 20's. He has a great interest in making sure the students receive a proper education. You see he went to Hogwarts as well but he was in the Slytherin house. It is nice to see that he is making something of himself."

_He was a Slytherin like Severus. Hmm, maybe Professor McGonagall can explain to me the obvious rival between the Gryffindor and Slytherin houses! So far everyone else has failed to do so._ "Professor, why are students from Gryffindor and Slytherin so malicious toward each other?"

"Students from those houses do not get along as you have seen with Mr. Potter and his friends and Mr. Snape. It certainly isn't a recent thing, I can tell you that. It goes as far back as the founders of Hogwarts themselves. Salazar Slytherin thought that the school should be more selective about which students they allowed at Hogwarts."

"And which sort of students are those?"

"Pure-bloods." Beth nodded her head in understanding. "The other founders, especially Godric Gryffindor, did not agree with him. Salazar decided to leave the school. That's where the utter contempt for one another began. And so today students from both houses have a pre-decided notion that they cannot possibly get along."

"Well I suppose that makes sense now, though it seems a bit ridiculous."

They had arrived at the bank. A goblin took them to a cart that would lead to Beth's vault. The warm breeze hitting Beth's face, as they rode in the cart, felt good after being outside in the cold. She put her hands in the air and gave a little shout.

"Put your hands down, you silly girl." The Transfiguration teacher startled her. "We don't need you falling out of the cart." Beth dropped her hands but still continued to enjoy the warm air.

"Vault 686," the goblin announced.

"Alright, Miss Spenser, look for anything unusual in the vault."

"But professor everything seems unusual to me."

Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow and stared at Beth for a moment. "Then if you're not sure, ask me."

As they both searched, Beth maneuvered her way around all the galleons, sickles, and knuts. There seemed to be a lot of family heirlooms in the vault, but they were about as interesting as the stacks of coins. A flash of light caught Beth's eye in the corner. She turned to see if Professor McGonagall had seen the light as well, but her back was to Beth, which indicated that she had not noticed anything.

As Beth moved toward the wall the flash appeared again. There appeared to be a piece of concrete wall that could be removed. She touched the square, and it melted away to reveal a hole. Beth glanced inside. _I see something in there!_ She stuck her hand in the space and pulled out an old and dusty book. As soon as she had the book in her hands the hole in the wall disappeared like it was never there in the first place. The book donned many symbols and unknown writing that looked foreign to the Beth.

_I wonder what this is. It must be special if it was hidden away. I would really like to know about it. Maybe I can do research in the library and find out what it says. Should I tell Professor McGonagall about it? It's just an old book. I think I'll work on it myself and if I find anything important I'll let her and Professor Dumbledore know. It could be something personal that no one outside the family is allowed to know about._ She looked back to see if the Transfiguration teacher was watching. She appeared to be engrossed in an object that was glowing different colors.

_I just have to make this fit in my pocket to take back to Hogwarts._ "Reducio," she whispered as she pointed her wand at the book. As Beth put the item in her pocket, she noticed another book lying by her left hand. _This looks like a family album. Perhaps I still have family left after all, even if they are distant relatives. I should take this with me._

Professor McGonagall interrupted Beth from her thoughts. "Have you found anything Miss Spenser?"

Beth shook her head. "Not really, only this family photo album. Am I allowed to take it with me professor?"

"Of course, Miss Spenser. Well, I'm afraid that there's nothing else of any use to us in this vault."

"What was that thing that changed colors?"

"I'm not sure. It seems to be telling me something but since I don't know the color code, I can't figure it out." Beth gave her a confused look. "I want to do one more thing before we leave. Tap the walls with our wands to see if there's anything hidden in them."

Beth briefly looked alarmed before attempting to hide her emotions. "I'll start over here then." She crossed the vault to the opposite side of where she was. She was afraid that something would happen if she tried poking around in the corner again.

After searching for what seemed like hours, Professor McGonagall finally gave up the search, and the two returned to Hogwarts.

As soon as the Transfiguration professor left Beth to go to her office, the sixteen year old raced upstairs to the Room of Requirement to put the mysterious family book in a safe place. _I can show my friends the album, but I need a place in the wall to put the other book where no one will be able to open it but me._ Beth used her wand to loosen up a brick in the wall with a space in the wall opened wide enough to stick the book. She then replaced the brick covering hole like it was never there just like in Beth's vault at Gringotts.

**  
Christmas morning came quickly, and Beth soon found herself down in the common room opening presents with Remus. She received many presents from her friends, including a bottle of perfume from Lily.

Soon it was time to exchange presents with Remus, a time Beth had been looking forward to ever since her gift from Remus has come by owl a couple weeks before. She was just opening her last gift when he came over and handed her present to her.

"Oh my, this is really big. I'm surprised it's not heavier."

Remus smirked at her. "Just open it already."

Beth ripped the paper off and gasped. "Wow, these are so amazing! Advanced Charms and Defense books, these will come in handy when we get to the more difficult magic."

"And that's not all. I fixed it so they're lightweight, and if you just tap on the books twice you can reduce and enlarge them so that they're travel-size. They will fit right into your pocket then."

"That's so neat. Thank you, Remus." She reached over to hug him and gave him his present.

"You're welcome, Beth. I thought you might need them…" _What is that smell? Is it coming from Beth? It's very alluring. With the full moon coming my senses are heightened. It's very tempting… _ "Beth, are you wearing perfume?"

"Oh, yes. Lily gave it to me. It's called 'Witches' Vanilla Musk.' Do you think it smells nice?"

_Do I ever, much more than nice actually. If I could just…_ Remus shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Yes, it's nice. Well, shall I open this?" He gestured toward the gift. Beth nodded her head in the affirmative.

Remus removed the wrapping paper to reveal a box with holes in it. He looked at her questioningly but continued to open the box. Before he knew it a crup jumped in his lap and began to lick his face. _I don't think I'm allowed to have a crup at Hogwarts but I don't want to disappoint Beth. We've hidden many things before. I'm sure this will be no problem._ "Wow, I didn't expect this. He's so friendly."

"I figured that you might like a companion for when you visit your mum or any other time. He's a—what did Dorcas call him?—oh, a crup, and he's only 10 weeks old. He is quite friendly, isn't he? And he's taken a liking to you already." The crup wagged his tail and put his front paws on the boy's leg.

Remus smiled at her. "Thank you, Beth." He leaned forward. _I'm going to do it. I'm going to kiss her, at least on the cheek. This time she'll be conscious so she can remember it._ Remus made to put his arms around Beth and kiss her but when he was only 6 inches from her, the crup came between them and began licking Beth's face which made her pull away.

She laughed. "What are you going to call him?"

_Darn crup._ "I don't know but he's a licker. Looks like he's taken a liking to you as well, Beth."

"Licker, then?" Beth petted the crup on the head.

Remus joined Beth in petting the magical creature. "Haha, maybe."

**  
Later that day Remus and Beth took Licker out onto the Hogwarts grounds to play in the snow. For 5 hours they chased the crup around as he explored his way around the outside of Hogwarts castle. Beth became tired from the running and slowed down to a jog. Licker began to run in between her legs and around Beth. Remus was jogging just ahead of them.

"Licker, stop that, you're going to…ahh!" Beth tripped over the crup taking Remus down with her. She found herself almost on top of him. "Oh sorry, Remus."

He laughed. "It wasn't your fault. Licker is to blame."

Beth joined in the laughter. "Yes I suppose he was." She laughed until she noticed that Remus was looking at her in a peculiar way. She was about to ask him what was wrong when she suddenly felt him touching her hair and cheeks with his hands. He was silent, his silver eyes gazing into her own hazel ones. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again. He appeared to want to say something but wasn't sure if he should say it.

"Beth, I think…" Suddenly two snowballs came in their direction. One hit Beth in the back of the head and the other Remus' face.

"What the…?" Beth turned around to receive another one, this time in the face. Both Gryffindors stood and ran in the direction that snowballs had come in. They reached the top of the hill to find no on the other side.

"Huh, interesting." Remus looked to see if there was anyone around.

"Well I suppose we're soaked enough. Let's go in and dry off."

Remus was disappointed but didn't show it. He had wanted to tell Beth that he liked her, but some unknown snowball thrower had interrupted them. Beth took Remus by the hand and led him to the entrance of the castle.

**  
The full moon was fast approaching, and Remus was feeling more and more sick. Beth took care of Licker and visited Remus in the hospital wing during the day. One evening after she had already left him to go to dinner, Beth decided to return to keep him company. She didn't care if he didn't want her to see him in pain. She wanted to make sure he was all right. She made her way into the infirmary to find his bed empty.

_What? Where is Remus? I don't understand._ Suddenly, she heard a noise that told her Madame Pomfrey was coming. She knew that the nurse would yell at her if she found her there because she had specifically told her not to visit Remus at night.

She quickly exited the room into the corridor. _That was a close one. Now where could Remus be? He looked so sick, so I don't think he could walk around much._

"Looking for something or someone, cousin?"

Beth gasped slightly. "No, not at all. Don't sneak up on me like that." She pulled out her wand. "I'm ready for you so don't try anything this time."

"Elizabeth, Elizabeth. You must be mistaken. I wasn't trying to hit you. You just got in the way. Would have been nice if it had worked though."

"What did you hit me with anyway?"

Dia changed the subject. "So, were you looking for Remus? I bet you were. I've been watching you two. I wish you would know what was for your own good, Elizabeth. I've been watching him too, sometimes when he's by himself. You should know that he's a faithless bastard. He plays with girls and then messes with others behind their back, and soon they find themselves alone again."

"That is such a lie, Dia."

"Is it? That's what he did to me, isn't it? Do you know where he is right now? I can see in your eyes that you don't. I wanted to tell you what he's been doing. He's with another girl right now. That's why you haven't been able to find him. He's been trying to keep you from finding out. But being the good cousin I am, I felt you had the right to know."

"Why are doing this Dia? Why is this any of your concern anyway? You're just telling me this so I'll stop hanging out with him and you can have him all to yourself again."

"Frankly, I don't want anything do with him anymore. Why, Elizabeth, can't you face the fact that you might not be the only girl in Remus' life? He's very attractive, and a lot of other girls like him. They would jump at the chance to have him. And they would give him a lot more than you have."

"No, he wouldn't do that. He's not like that."

Dia's anger began to rise at Beth's refusal to listen. "Elizabeth, listen to me. Why are so naïve when it comes to Remus Lupin? You think he wants girls because they're smart and innocent? He wants them because they're pretty and will give him anything."

Beth's emotions started to run out of control within her. "NO, Dia! You're wrong! Remus is not like that. He wouldn't do something so shallow."

"Why not, Elizabeth?" Beth began to shake her head. "WHY NOT?"

"Because I love him!" The words escaped her mouth before she knew what had happened.

Dia narrowed her eyes. "What did you say?"

"Nothing, nothing at all."

"I heard you. You said you loved him. How could you know that? You and your silly ideas about people loving each other, it's ludicrous and absolutely ridiculous to think about." She raised her wand as if she was going to strike but was caught off guard by her cousin's outburst.

"What is your problem, Dia?! Why can't you understand that there are people who love each other? I have never done anything to you, and yet you have hated me all our lives. Why do you hate me so? All I ever wanted to do was love you like a cousin and a sister! I have always loved you! Even when you hurt me so much! I still love you even now! Why couldn't you understand that we needed each other?" Tears streamed down Beth's face.

"Why did you have to be so jealous of me? You could have taken me under your wing. You could have been my teacher, and I could have learned so much from you. I had potential to learn magic but you never saw that. You hated me when you could have loved me. You left me alone by myself! Our family kept me from what I was! Did you know that? They knew I could do magic! If they had really loved me, why did they do such a horrible thing?! So they couldn't have loved me! You and I would have been great friends. WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME, DIA?!"

Beth had been keeping all her emotions bottled up about her family's death and their keeping the fact that she was a witch secret from even her. And now she was clearly taking it out on her cousin who was only partly to blame for how Beth felt.

Dia stood, completely taken aback but her cousin's outburst. She couldn't even say nor do anything as Beth rushed passed her to go to the 6th year girls' dormitory in Gryffindor Tower.

**  
Madame Pomfrey had allowed Remus to leave the hospital wing a couple mornings later. Remus sat on the couch in front of the fire doing his homework waiting for Beth to join him, but he hadn't seen her all morning or afternoon for that matter. He was beginning to worry that something may have happened to her given her previous history of bad nights of sleep.

At 4 o'clock, Remus finally decided that he needed to take drastic measures and go check on her in her room. He hoped she was there safe and sound. As he entered the 6th year girls dorm, he heard sobbing coming from the direction of Beth's four-poster.

"No, never again…never, never again…"

"Beth, what's going on? Are you all right?"

She gasped. "Remus, what are you doing up here?" whispered Beth from behind her closed curtains.

"I-I came to make sure you were okay. I was worried about you. You haven't been downstairs yet today."

"He cares about me…" she whispered to herself, but it was loud enough for Remus to hear.

"Beth, can I come in and open your curtains so we can talk?" She didn't answer him. Remus crossed the room and threw open the drapery. Beth sat on her bed curled up and looking down at her feet. She wore a white nightgown. She didn't seem to notice what he had just done. Remus put his hand on her shoulder.

Beth jumped. "Remus, you scared me!" She had lifted her face to look at him for the first time. Her eyes were red and puffy. Dark circles had appeared under her eyes. Her once beautiful hair was a mess, and she smelled of sweat and tears. It was obvious to Remus that Beth hadn't slept in a while.

"What's wrong, Beth? You don't look well." He tried to touch her forehead, but she pulled away.

"I'm perfectly fine." Her voice was monotone.

"You can't tell me you're fine when I know perfectly well that something is not right. Have you been able to sleep all right? Is it the nightmares again?" He attempted to touch her arm this time, but she pulled away so hard that she almost fell off the other side of the bed.

"Beth, you're going to hurt yourself, please just tell me what happened." Remus went to help her get back on the four-poster, but she fought him vehemently. Fortunately, he was the stronger of the two. He was able to pull her back into a sitting position, the side of her face leaning up against his chest. He held her with his right arm and with his left stroked her hair.

After a moment or two, the tears fell and the sobbing began. She cried for at least 5-10 minutes before she finally calmed down. Then the shivering started.

Remus held her closer in his arms. "Oh, Remus," she sighed, "it was so awful, the worst thing I've ever seen." He listened and waited for her to continue. "I think it was in the future. Everyone was dead. Everyone was killed. But I don't understand because my family was killed again. They're already dead, how can they be killed again? And the worst part was that you left me, you left all of us. I had no one. I was all alone."

"Oh Beth, I'm so sorry. I'm not sure I understand the dream any more than you do. But know that I would never leave you, not on purpose anyway." They sat in silence for a long time. Remus wasn't sure if Beth was awake or asleep. Her occasional jerk told him that she probably was awake and fighting against sleep.

"Beth, since you're awake, you should get up and get something to eat. How long has it been?" He stood and pulled her up to a standing position. He thought she would be alright at first, but he found out he was wrong when he nearly missed catching her as she passed out on him several times before he had to hold her up.

"Beth, when's the last time you ate and got a good night's rest? Maybe I should take you to Madame Pomfrey." He felt her forehead. "You seem a bit delirious."

"No, I'm fine, really I am." She reached out for the bed with her arms, but Remus was holding her back. "Please, Remus, I just need to lie down. I'll be all right."

Remus sighed. "First tell me how long it's been since you've ate and slept."

"I don't remember. What day is it? If it's Thursday, probably somewhere around 48-60 hours."

"What! That long? I'm taking you to the nurse immediately. You must be dehydrated by now!"

"No, please don't Remus. I don't need anything but rest. I was afraid to sleep before, but I know I'll be fine now." She turned her head to look in his eyes. "Please let me sleep in my own bed."

He sighed again. "How do you know you'll be fine? How do you know that you won't have another nightmare again? Your body might go into shock or a coma."

Beth wiggled out of his arms. She took him by the hand. "I know because something in the dream can't possibly happen now."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

She sat down on the bed. "You can't leave me if you're right here." She gave him a slight smile.

Remus nodded his head in understanding. He sat down on her four-poster and allowed her to lean up against him, falling asleep almost immediately in his arms.

**  
Remus stayed with the sleeping Beth for the rest of the day and through the night. When she awoke in the morning he made her wash up while he summoned a house elf that he and the other Marauders had befriended. The house elf brought them breakfast, which Beth ravenously ate every bit that was given to her. Along with the bringing of the food, the bed garments were changed and the room was tidied.

After the plates had been cleared, Beth went back to sleep while Remus finished up his homework. It was rather difficult to manage considering Beth insisted on holding his hand. Later that night when Beth was feeling refreshed enough to stay awake, Remus brought Licker and his wizard chess set in, so that he could teach her how to play. She caught on rather quickly, and they were in their 5th game (Licker had fallen asleep under the bed) when Professor McGonagall entered the room at almost midnight.

"What in Merlin's name…? Mr. Lupin, you are not allowed in Miss Spenser's room. I don't care if there are hardly any students around!"

Remus looked nervous that he would be in trouble for breaking the rules. "I apologize, professor, but Beth wasn't feeling well, and I just came to check on her."

McGonagall turned toward Beth. "And why might I ask didn't you go to the hospital wing if you weren't feeling well, Miss Spenser?"

"It's okay, I'm all right now. Remus helped me feel lots better."

Professor McGonagall gave them a stern look as if to scold them but didn't say anything more on the subject. "If you'll come with me immediately, it's a matter of an emergency." The Transfiguration teacher seemed rather worried now that she was through with silently reprimanding them.

"What's wrong, Professor McGonagall?" Remus asked, but she merely exited the room without so much of a glance in their direction. "Come on, Beth, put on your dressing gown and grab your wand. We don't want to keep her waiting."

Beth did as she was told. While she grabbed her wand, she bent down to look under the bed. The crup had awoken and was wagging his tail when he saw his friend. "Licker, you stay in this room and don't make any noise."

Remus and Beth exited a couple minutes later and joined the Transfiguration teacher down in the common room. Dia was with her but as they reached the two, she didn't even look over in their direction. The three Gryffindors followed Professor McGonagall to wherever they were going, which happened to be the headmaster's office.

Upon their arrival, they found that all of the students staying at Hogwarts over the holiday were in attendance. As the head of Gryffindor house closed the door behind them, Professor Dumbledore stood up from his desk to speak. "It has been brought to my attention that there is a possibility that some Death Eaters will try to gain access to the castle tonight." All of the students in the room gasped and began to talk excitedly amongst each other.

"It is not clear what their mission is, but I wanted to make sure that you all are safe from their grasp. Since there are so few of you, I felt that my office would be a sufficient place to stay until the danger has passed."

Professor Dumbledore had just finished what he was saying when they all heard heavy footsteps approaching the office door. A moment later Hagrid, the gamekeeper, burst into the room out of breath. Beth remembered meeting him a month or so back when her friends had introduced her to him, but she hadn't seen Hagrid recently on account of being so busy.

Sweat poured down his panicked face. "Professor Dumbledore, sir." He gasped trying to catch his breath. "The Death Eaters, they've got…" he gulped "…her."


	10. Won't You Be My Valentine?

Chapter 10 Won't You Be My Valentine?

Who have they got, Hagrid?"

"Professor Griggs, sir."

"No!" Marcia Griggs shouted. "It can't be! How could this happen? Why didn't you stop them, you filthy half-breed?!" She strode toward the door ready to hurt him.

"Miss Griggs, please get a hold of yourself!" Professor McGonagall stated exasperatedly.

Griggs turned on Beth. "This is all your fault, you know. They're looking for you. If it weren't for you my mum would still be here!"

The headmaster interrupted her. "Miss Griggs, how do you know that the Death Eaters are looking for Miss Spenser?"

She glared at Beth and didn't look at Professor Dumbledore. "I overheard them that day in Hogsmeade before they apparated away." She turned from the 6th year Gryffindor and went to be by herself in another corner of the office.

"Well, Hagrid come with me. We, along with the other teachers, will search the castle and grounds. Miss Griggs, we will find your mother. Professor McGonagall, if you could stay with the children. They will sleep here for the night." He conjured some sleeping bags for the students. "I will lock the door behind me."

Dumbledore's office was rather small but large enough for the 10 to spread out on the bags. The 3 Gryffindors wound up lying next to one another with Beth in the middle. Remus was already in a supine position and most likely asleep. Beth and Dia sat on their bags not able to sleep.

"Nice going, cousin."

Beth ignored her attempts to start a fight. "So do you like the Keeper of Secrets necklace I gave to you? I didn't know if you would want a gift from me so I just left it with the rest of your Christmas presents."

"It's interesting."

"Well you must be enjoying it, right, since I can tell the necklace is under your robes?"

Dia's hand flew to her chest where the pendant lay. She finally looked over at her cousin, "Couldn't let me have something all to my own, could you?" She had spotted the same piece of jewelry around Beth's neck.

"I thought they could be something we could share. Look, I'm sorry I yelled at you before. I didn't mean to yell. But everything I said was true. They may have pushed you aside as far as family goes, but they also inhibited my becoming a witch. I think that's just as bad."

"You can't compare two things such as those."

"You're right, you can't, but they are equally terrible things to do to someone as far as I'm concerned. So since we're in the same boat drifting out to sea, we might as well stick together right? Become a team to man the boat and get through all the rough waters of the world?" Beth watched her cousin as Dia considered her and what she was saying. The wheels in her head seemed to be turning as if she actually might be mulling things over and ready to agree with the older Gryffindor.

"I might take things into account as I sleep." And with that said, Dia turned herself away from Beth and went to sleep on the comfortable bag.

Beth blew out a puff of air toward her imaginary bangs in frustration. _Well, she didn't say no way this time. I just have to keep trying._

**  
The students were allowed to leave the headmaster's office the next day. Dumbledore and the professors had searched everywhere for the Care of Magical Creatures teacher but came up empty. Remus and Beth were on their way out of the headmaster's office when Professor Dumbledore stopped Beth.

"Miss Spenser did you find anything useful in your vault at Gringotts? Professor McGonagall mentioned you found something there."

"Yes, sir, I found a family photo album with pictures of my grandparents and parents. It was a nice find considering everything that's happened."

"Hmm, indeed. There was nothing else of interest to you?" Dumbledore gazed at her over his half-moon spectacles.

Beth felt horrible for lying. _Maybe I should just tell him about it._ "Well there was this one other book that I found, but it seems rather personal. I'll have a look at it as soon as I can and then I'll let you know." She gave him a smile before turning to leave with Remus.

**  
As anyone might have guessed when one is in mourning they seldom make an appearance for everyone else to see. And that's how it was with Marcia Griggs. She seldom came down for meal times and rarely said anything beyond single-word utterances during the rest of the break. Dia didn't talk to her cousin either though Beth had expected that. She kept her distance to allow Dia more time to think about what she had offered her. The 6th year Gryffindor didn't have much time to worry about her cousin anyway. Remus kept her busy learning as many 4th year spells and charms as possible so that she could be ready to review with the others when they returned and also start with 5th year magic.

The snow was falling heavily and the wind blowing hard, when the rest of the school arrived at Hogwarts from holiday on Sunday evening. Professor Dumbledore made known to everyone the tragedy that had befallen the school while they were away during the return feast. He also announced that Care of Magical Creatures classes would be cancelled until another suitable teacher could be found.

Later on in the Gryffindor common room, Remus explained to the others his account of what happened that night that Professor Griggs disappeared, while Beth remained quiet looking at her family photo album.

"Beth, you're awfully quiet tonight," Alice began, "is there something bothering you?"

"No, just thinking. I have a lot on my mind right now."

"Care to share?" asked Dorcas.

Beth felt like snapping at them all to leave her alone, but then she remembered what Dumbledore had told her. _**It is unwise to keep secrets from friends, Miss Spenser.**_

She sighed. "I feel like it's my fault because the Death Eaters captured Professor Griggs."

"Well she wasn't a very nice teacher to begin with," Sirius attempted to cheer her up in his own odd way.

"Don't listen to Sirius," said Alice quickly, "he doesn't know what he's talking about. Just because she wasn't always very nice to us, she was a good professor, and no one deserves that fate."

"I agree," Lily replied, "and it's certainly not your fault. If they were looking for you, they didn't need to take her."

"There's nothing you could have done, Beth. Don't worry about it. Professor Dumbledore will find her and bring her back." Morwenna reassured her as best as she could but they all knew that that was something they couldn't promise no matter how powerful a wizard the headmaster was.

Peter had gotten up and was looking over Beth's shoulder. "What's that you've got with you?"

"Just something I found in my grandparents' vault. It's a family photo album. I'm not sure, but I think that it updates itself. For instance, see this page?" They all leaned in to look at the album. "It's different from all the rest. There's no name or photo, and only the year is given for date of birth. Also, the address is the same as this woman on the opposite page. What do you think that means?"

"It's a bit obvious, isn't it?" responded Sirius, a bit too arrogantly, as if they should all know what these signs meant. "Haven't any of you, besides Beth and Lily, seen a wizard family album before?" They shook their heads. "It means that this woman here," he pointed to the young 21-year-old, "is pregnant with a baby, but it's not known whether it's a boy or girl."

Beth was amazed at her friend's knowledge of the wizarding world. It seemed like there was still so much to learn, things that Sirius took for granted because he had known about them all 16 years of his life. "Well that makes sense."

"I'm impressed, Sirius Black. You actually do know more than you let on," Alice quipped.

"I know. Hey wait a minute! Of course I know a lot of things, some of it valuable and some useless. I can't let everyone in on the secret that I am an intelligent person. They'd all want a piece of me then, wouldn't they?" He smirked.

Everyone rolled her their eyes, except for James who also seemed to be lost in thought. "Knut for your thoughts, James." Remus addressed him.

"What? Oh, I was just thinking about…" He looked over at Beth. "Nevermind, I wasn't thinking about anything in particular. Perhaps the Marauders should retire to consider ideas for our next prank? With the start of the New Year, we've got to have something planned as soon as possible. Sirius, make sure you bring that parchment." The boys all rose and made their way upstairs.

The girls followed them with their eyes until they were gone. "Wonder what they're up to this time," thought Dorcas aloud.

Morwenna brought their attention back to the photo album. "Look, Beth, this woman is barely older than we are. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you went to live with her."

"And her address is right here in front of us. You should owl her now," Alice added with a smile of encouragement.

Beth hurried to her room to fetch Surprise and extra parchment to write the letter. Lily hardly noticed as she still watched the door to the boys' dormitories. _James was deep in thought. It couldn't have been about nothing._ She looked over at Beth. _Perhaps he didn't want to say with Beth around. Maybe he was thinking about what happened to Professor Griggs? It certainly is strange that the Death Eaters would take a professor hostage. Dumbledore won't give in to any requests they may make. What would Voldemort do with her? Actually I don't want to know the answer to that one. Perhaps the girls and I can drag whatever James was thinking out of him if Beth isn't around. I'd like to hear his theories on the whole occurrence. Did I just say what I think I said? I'm really losing my mind…going barking mad, I am. Really why would I want to collaborate with James "I'm so good at everything" Potter?_

**  
The next day at breakfast the girls and Marauders were deep in conversation over what to teach Beth next and what should wait for another month, when Remus looked up to find Beth making her way down the Gryffindor table toward her cousin, Dia.

"What the bloody hell is she doing? Does she have a death wish?" He made a move to follow her.

James pulled him back down. "She can't do anything to her in the midst of all the other students. Let's watch and see what happens, mate."

All 7 Gryffindors watched as Beth tapped her cousin on the shoulder to get her attention. The 5th year turned around her face changing from a smile to an annoyed frown. Beth began to say something that the others couldn't make out because they were at the other end of the table.

"Alright let's go in for the hex. She's looking at Beth like she's going to hurt her." Sirius jumped up wand at the ready.

"Sit down, mate." James again came to the rescue. "Getting in trouble for a prank is okay, but you don't want to get a detention just because of her, do you? It doesn't seem worth it to me."

The girls and the rest of the Marauders stopped what they were doing. Remus was mildly amused at James' finally subtle attempts to win Lily Evans over. Everyone else sat gaping at him. After their initial shock, the girls smirked, amused as Remus and happy that James was finally shaping up to be a mature young adult that their friend could have an interest in some day soon. Lily herself was surprised but also a bit suspicious of the messy-haired boy's actions. _Why is he doing this all of a sudden?_

When Beth returned from her conversation with her cousin, she was met by a bunch of stares. "What was that all about?" inquired Dorcas.

"I was just asking if…Oh, please don't be offended Dorcas." She sat down next to Remus to finish her breakfast. "You've been helping me loads with magical creatures, but Dia seems to have a natural ability with them, and I thought she'd be able to help me a bit more."

"Why would you want to do that?" Sirius interrupted, "Especially now that you don't have that class."

"Doesn't Dia hate you?" Alice put things bluntly.

"Hate me?" She blushed. "Erm, no, not the last time I checked."

They all looked at her not believing that she was lying to them again. "But hasn't she been threatening you?" asked Peter dumbly.

Sirius kicked him in the shins. "Ow!" Peter gritted his teeth and rubbed his leg underneath his robes.

Beth laughed nervously. "Threatening me? Why would…?" She stopped as if listening to a sudden sound she had heard. Dumbledore was poking around in her mind again. _**It is unwise to keep secrets from friends, Miss Spenser.**_ "Okay maybe a little." And she told them of all the times that Dia had secretly harassed her. "But everything is all right now."

"Everything is all right now?" James echoed incredulous to what he was hearing. "She nearly killed you last term. How can things be okay?"

"Well while everyone was gone for the holiday, we talked a bit."

"When? You were with me practically the whole time," Remus interrupted. Everyone else exchanged glances.

Beth did her best not to look at Remus directly. "It was when I was trying to visit you in the hospital wing at night even though you told me not to." The boys exchanged significant glances that time.

Beth didn't say anything more because frankly she didn't want to get into it while everyone was there listening. She hoped he wouldn't be too angry with her. Remus didn't answer but looked thoughtful, so Beth continued with what she had been saying before. "Anyway, I believe I've given Dia plenty to think about over the holiday. I think she's finally coming around where I'm concerned. We are family after all, and family sticks together," she resolved.

"What are we, chop suey?" Sirius always had a way with words.

"You're family to me too. It's just she's the only connection to my grandparents that I know. She'd know more about them than I would where the wizarding world is concerned."

"You know how she feels about your grandparents, Beth," said Lily, "You'd be treading on dangerous waters if you mentioned them to Dia."

"I know," she replied uncertainly, "and that's why I won't be saying anything for a while. I need to build more trust."

"I don't think that you should be left alone with her, Beth. Remember what happened the last time?" Remus winced remembering all the details of what happened the day that his friends had brought her in to the hospital wing and the few days that followed.

"I remember, although still not very clearly. But I took everything that's happened into consideration, and Dia agreed to tutor me right in the common room where at least some of you can be sitting nearby?"

Everyone grinned at her. "Of course, Beth." Remus put his arm around her. "You finally understand that it's not good to be too trusting of other people."

"I trust you, should I not?"

The werewolf thought of Beth's unexpected visit to the hospital wing and what she must have thought when she got there. He resolved to tell her about his condition soon. "No, you can trust me. Can I trust you?"

"Always." As the Gryffindors finished up their breakfast, the owls made their arrival. No one was terribly excited about the post until they saw that Beth had a letter dropped in her hand. "Look, it's from my cousin, Rosalie. She's written me back from Italy already."

"Well, open it Beth. What does it say?" Morwenna asked eager to know.

_Dearest Elizabeth,_

_I am sorry to hear about the passing of my dear Great Uncle Damon and Great Aunt Eva as well as my cousins, your parents. I am glad that you have found the photo album and have decided to owl me. It is true that I am pregnant, and Giovanni and I will be happy parents of a baby boy in another six months. You are always welcome to owl me whenever you wish. I am in need of much company, and I would be delighted if you accepted my invitation to visit us in Aosta, Italy during your holidays off from school. Owl me when you get this letter and let me know if you will be joining us in the summer._

_Your loving cousin,_

_Rosalie_

"Wow, now you have somewhere new that you've never visited before," Lily began.

"And you have new people to meet as well," added Alice.

"Yeah that's all well and good, but I thought Beth was going to stay with us this summer. Now you've gone and made plans without us!" Sirius pouted.

Beth just laughed at him. "Okay Sirius, you've convinced me. I'll write Rosalie and ask if you all can visit me in Italy once I've settled in."

"How did you know that's what he wanted? I knew that immediately because I've known him since we were 11, but you've only known him for," James counted on his fingers, "four months! I think you've been spending entirely too much time with him."

Everyone laughed this time. "Not any more time than I've been spending with you, James," giggled Beth. "I guess I've just gotten very adept at reading between the lines where my friends are concerned."

"Ah yes but the trick is being adept at reading between the lines where your enemies are concerned." They all went quiet. Severus Snape had glided up behind them while they were in conversation.

"My enemies, Severus?" She turned around and looked at him questioningly.

"Yes, the Death Eaters and You-know-who."

Sirius and James stood up with their wands out. "Are you threatening, Beth, Snape? Because we all know that you're a Death Eater."

"I am not, Black, and even if I were I certainly wouldn't admit it to you in front of everyone in the Great Hall."

"Guys please, not now. You're all my friends, can't you all just along?" Beth was met with a resounding "no."

"I came here, Elizabeth, to remind you that we will be beginning some more difficult 6th year potions so be sure to bring the extra book I let you borrow. See you later this evening." And with that said he left as quickly as he came.

"You're already on 6th year potions?" asked Peter in awe.

"Well, yes, I like the subject, so I'm a quick learner. And Severus is a good teacher. He says that he's going to let Professor Dumbledore know that I'll soon be ready to join the Potions classes with him."

"With him and us. We all need the class with the career paths we've chosen." Dorcas drank the last of her pumpkin juice.

"You all maybe because you're going to be Aurors. I'm taking it because I'm not sure what I want to do yet. Maybe something with photography or history."

"Speak for yourself, Morwenna. I'm going into something with Charms. I've got Potions because I thought it might be useful for whatever job I do end up with."

"What are Aurors?" asked Beth curious.

"The best students in Hogwarts, that's who." Sirius puffed his chest proudly and put his arms around James and Remus.

"Merlin help the witch or wizard who gets stuck training you two." Lily pointed indicating James and Sirius.

"Hey I think we'll turn out to be alright Aurors once we've had a bit of training." James shot back.

"What are _Aurors_?" repeated Beth.

"They're well-trained witches and wizards who keep order and fight evil," replied Dorcas, answering Beth's question.

"I can't wait to kick Voldemort's arse right out from underneath him!" exclaimed Sirius as he punched the bench beneath him.

"Sirius, I don't think you should…" Beth began, but the bell to indicate that they had 5 minutes to get to class rang, interrupting her thoughts.

The Gryffindors made their way to classes, while Beth trooped back to the Gryffindor common room to begin her studies and get ready for her various lessons that week.

**  
A mildly cold and snow-filled January swept into a frigidly cold and blizzard-filled February. It was lucky that Care of Magical Creatures classes were cancelled so most students didn't have to go outside except for Herbology lessons in the greenhouses.

Beth's time with Dia in the common room was well-spent as she learned all kinds of things from her cousin that even Dorcas didn't seem to know. And her friends were right there to watch in case anything went wrong. But as time passed, Beth seemed more and more confident that Dia was beginning to like her despite the façade that she put up.

It was right before Valentine's Day when Beth decided to be brave enough to ask her cousin about her grandparents.

"Where have you learned all of these things about magical creatures? You had to have learned long before you were at Hogwarts. Did my grandparents teach you?"

Dia formed that familiar sneer that made her look like a Slytherin. "What makes you think that I want to talk about _them_?"

"Come on, Dia. You're the only one who knows about my grandparents as far as the wizarding world is concerned."

"They weren't very nice people," replied Dia shortly.

"They weren't? They always seemed nice when I visited them."

"That's because you didn't live with them. They showered you with gifts when you came which wasn't very often. They were always telling me what to do. They were always mean to me just because I didn't really belong in their family."

"They were mean or they were firm because they were the ones raising you and not your real parents and grandparents?" She had struck a nerve.

Dia narrowed her eyes and scowled. "They did teach me, now let's stop the side conversation and get back to what we're supposed to be here for."

Beth decided to push her luck just a little bit further. "Alright, but you can talk about how you feel with me. I know you're still hurting because your family left you on my grandparents' doorstep when you were a baby."

Dia ignored her. "The dragons that live in…" Beth listened attentively to her cousin and all that she had to say. It was almost like learning from her grandparents, and that was something that she took comfort in, despite her own disgruntled feelings toward them.

**  
February 14th came upon them quickly. Beth had already sent Remus a heart-o-gram and wondered if she should have gotten him something else. All 8 Gryffindors plus Severus were in Potions when the cupids that were passing the grams around came into the classroom. Beth had joined them at the beginning of the month, but much to the James and Sirius' shock and dismay, she had chosen to partner with Severus, claiming that it was because he was her tutor.

"Hey Moony," whispered Sirius, "I think your girl is being stolen away from you. It looks like she has quite the crush on Snivellus."

"Be quiet, Padfoot," Remus gritted through his teeth. However, he looked up to see that Beth was talking animatedly to the Slytherin, and it appeared that he had grams from someone, most likely one from her. The cupid had delivered several to Beth herself, one from him although he hadn't had enough nerve to sign it with his own name. He had wanted to tell her how he felt since the Christmas holidays, but there was never the right moment. _Coward. Okay, I'll tell her tonight that it was me who sent the anonymous gram and then how I feel about her._

Remus was busy in his own thoughts, and it took Sirius poking him in the arm to realize that he had several grams on his table. There were from Lily, Morwenna, Dorcas, and Alice, but the bottom one was from Beth.

_Remus,_

_Thank you for being there for me whenever I have needed it. You truly are wonderful, and I hope to call you my friend always. Maybe even my best friend._

_ XOXOXO,_

_ Beth_

_ What does this mean?_ thought Remus. _Is she trying to say what I'm hoping she's saying? Or am I reading too much into the note? XOXOXO? Does that mean she wants to hug and kiss me in the friendly way or in a more than friendly way? Why am I worrying about this? What will be is what will be._

Remus put the grams away in his bag and returned back to the potion that he and Sirius were trying to make.

"I received two anonymous grams in class today." Remus heard Beth say after lessons in the Gryffindor common room.

"Two? Really?" bubbled Alice with excitement.

Beth blushed. "Yes, but I can't tell who they're from." Remus sighed quietly to himself. _Maybe she doesn't feel the same if she can't figure out that one is from me. Wait, who sent the other one?_

"Let me see," Sirius grabbed the grams out of her hands. "Ooo, this one here says:

_Dearest Elizabeth,_

_ I have watched you quietly. You are the most beautiful girl that I have ever had the chance to meet. I do not know if you feel as I do, but I will have to take my chances. Meet me in the Astronomy tower tonight at sunset._

_ Your secret admirer_

"Wow, sounds promising, Beth. Are you going to meet him?" Sirius grinned.

"Well, I don't know. I wish I knew who it was. Surprises like that can be rather unpleasant. If only I was sure that it would be," Remus could have sworn that she had glanced quickly in his direction, "someone that I…trust."

Remus was bubbling inside. _Yes! Now I know she has to like me. I don't know who this gram is from but I'm going to take advantage of it and be there before this secret admirer. Sunset did it say? That's right after dinner. I'll have to sneak off without being noticed._

James seemed to be echoing Remus' thoughts. "It said sunset? That's right after dinner. You'll have to go soon after we return to the common room."

"Are you 4 up to something? You seem to be pushing pretty hard to make sure that Beth goes to the Astronomy tower at sunset. This isn't part of a prank is it?" Lily frowned at them.

And instantly Remus knew that James and Sirius and probably Peter had sent Beth the gram because they knew that he wouldn't have the courage to write something like that. _It's for me. I'll have to remember to thank them later._

"Us, pull a prank on Beth? We would never do something that horrible to her. She's like our sister."

"Yes, and siblings pull pranks on each other all the time," said Dorcas unconvinced of their innocence.

"We promise we're not up to anything," James insisted.

"Yeah we only sent one to Snape, and we sent him somewhere else entirely." Peter cut in. Sirius stepped on his foot to keep him from saying anything else to get them incriminated.

"James, Sirius, you really shouldn't have done that. Now I'll have to go and meet him just to apologize for your behavior." Beth took the grams back from Sirius.

"No! I think you really should go and see this person at the Astronomy tower. Think of how disappointed he'll be if you don't meet him, especially if it's someone you do trust." _It's a must that she goes so I can meet her there._

Beth smiled at Remus. "Alright, I'll go and meet this mystery man."

**  
Right after dinner, Remus had managed to sneak away from the other Gryffindors. It helped that Sirius and James had made quite a commotion on their way back to the common room so that the girls wouldn't notice. He sat in the Astronomy tower waiting for the sun to set and Beth's arrival. _Okay what should I say to her? Should I tell her I love her? That might scare her away. But it's the truth. I've always liked Beth from the moment I laid eyes on her, but I wasn't sure at first about loving her. After I almost lost her, I knew that I was definitely in love with her. Can someone really fall in love so fast with someone else?_

Remus was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard some movement on the stairs leading to the tower. Beth appeared around the corner, still holding the gram that the other boys had given her as well as his own.

"Hi," she greeted him shyly.

"Hi, you seemed surprised to see me."

"Yeah, well no not really. I sort of had a feeling I might find you up here." Beth held the grams up to the light as if that would help detect the senders of the notes. "So which one is yours and which one is from James and Sirius?"

_Not going to let her know that it was them. She might be disappointed._ "Both, both of them are from me. It was just to keep you from guessing."

"Now do you really think I'm that stupid? I know they sent the one that brought me up here. Ever since Christmas I feel like I have an extra sense about people. Besides, I like this one much better." She waved his gram in the air. "Won't you be my valentine, Remus Lupin?"

Remus smiled at her. "Of course, Elizabeth Spenser, now won't you come with me? You wouldn't want to miss this sunset, would you?" He led her to the balcony outside of the tower.

"Wow." The sky was alight with many different shades of blue, yellow, orange, red, and purple. The clouds billowed with white and gray moved slowly across the sky. As Beth and Remus looked up in the sky closer to the castle, they saw that some of the stars had already appeared.

"It's so beautiful. I've never seen anything like this. Sure I've seen sunsets before, but nothing compares to a sunset at Hogwarts."

Remus moved closer to Beth. "It is an amazing site though I've found that it's not as beautiful as _some things_ are," he gazed straight at her.

She looked over at him and startled not realizing he was so close, but she caught what he was getting at and blushed. She attempted to recover her voice. "I know that you think so already. You've told me three times over." Remus looked at her questioningly. "Once now and twice in the grams."

He grinned at her and considered what he would say next. _This is as good a time as any I suppose._ "Beth, there's something I need to tell you." Remus took her hands in his. "I've wanted to say this for a long time. I think that I..." He stopped when he noticed a shadow moving across the grounds.

"What is it, Remus? What do you have to tell me?"

"Come, let's go back into the tower. The sun has set now anyway, and it's getting cold." He pulled her into the Astronomy tower, closed the door, and locked it with a spell.

Beth sat down on the floor of the classroom. "Is something wrong, Remus? You look a little nervous."

He joined her as soon as he was finished. "No, it's nothing. I just saw someone unfamiliar on the grounds, and I thought we might be safer inside."

"Oh alright, what was it that you need to tell me then?"

_Okay, now what, now that I've totally ruined the moment? Maybe I should try a different approach. I feel like I might never get a chance if I don't do it right now._

Remus took Beth's head in his hands, caressing her cheek. She seemed to know what he was about to do. She put her arms around his neck and began to close her eyes. Remus read this as a sign to continue. He leaned in to kiss her. He could feel her warm breath on his face, he was so close. A few more centimeters and he could touch her lips for the first time with his.


	11. The Truth Comes Out

Chapter 11 The Truth Comes Out

"WAHAHAHO!" A voice came through the walls. Beth and Remus stopped where they were and looked over at the far end of the classroom. Peeves appeared floating above the bookcases. "Well if isn't Loony Loopy Lupin!" he smirked. "And he's got a girl along with him. Shame, shame, what have you two been doing up here all by your lonesome?"

"Nothing, Peeves, now get out of here before I curse you."

"Nasty temper you've got on you. Just coming in for a nice stroll to see if there were any ickle students to bother."

"If you won't leave we will." _Bloody poltergeist._ Remus hated to admit defeat, but he knew with the way Peeves treated him, challenging him to play a prank, he would never get to tell Beth at the Astronomy tower. They descended the stairs and walked along in silence. Remus was beginning to lose his nerve to tell Beth about his love for her. _I don't think I can do it anymore. Everything was so perfect up there, but now we're here not there. I want everything to be perfect when I tell her._

Beth startled him out his thoughts. "Remus, are you going to tell me why you weren't in the hospital wing that night?"

"The hospital wing?" He had been totally thrown off by her question. "Well, were you there long?" _Please don't let her have been there that long._

"No, only a few minutes. I left when I heard Madame Pomfrey coming because I wasn't supposed to be there."

_Phew! I wasn't counting on her bringing this up. I'm not ready for this. I'm not ready for this at all._ "You must have just missed me. I was probably going to the bathroom when you arrived. What were you doing not obeying the nurse's rules?"

"Sorry, but I wanted to see you. I couldn't bear the thought of you being in pain without someone there to be with you. You're always there for me when I need you."

"I appreciate your concern, but I promise I'll be all right."

"That's not what you had to tell me is it?"

"No, but that can wait for another day." He grabbed her hand. "Let's go. We almost forgot about your Defense lessons."

**  
All during Defense lessons with Remus, Beth had wanted to tell him how she felt about him. She had planned on doing it right after he told her whatever it was he had to tell her but now it seemed he wasn't going to tonight. _Why are you such a coward Elizabeth Spenser? You're sure that he likes you, so why can't you just tell him? Sure I can tell him that I like him but it's more than that. I don't want to scare him away._

By the time they were finished, Beth's mind was just screaming at her to tell him. They were packing up their things when she just couldn't take it any longer. She took a deep breath. "Remus, Ireallylikeyouyouknow." She hadn't meant for it to come up so quickly and jumbled together like that. Her face turned a bit pink.

"I like you too Beth," replied Remus absentmindedly, but then he stopped what he was doing. "Oh! You mean in _that_ way." She nodded her head.

He walked over to her and put his arms around her. "Ireallylikeyoutooyouknow," he said purposely. She laughed.

"We really are a funny pair aren't we?" It was a rhetorical question, but Remus nodded his head anyway.

He took her head in his hands again, hoping against all hope that he would be able to kiss her this time. "Wait a minute," she stopped him. "I want to try something." Remus looked at her confused.

Beth pointed her wand at their feet. "Mobilicorpi." And they began to ascend in the air, her a little bit more than him so that they could see eye to eye.

"Very impressive, I have taught you well."

"I think you'll make a wonderful teacher someday, maybe even at Hogwarts. So you think this makes things perfect enough for us?"

Remus was amazed; it was almost like she was reading his mind. All he could do was nod his head as he looked into her soft hazel eyes. _This time everything will be perfect. And no one will interrupt us._

Beth put her left arm around Remus' neck, and they both closed their eyes. They moved in closer to meet in the middle. Remus could smell that wonderful perfume on Beth's neck. He breathed it in and exhaled softly. Beth enjoyed the fresh soap scent that she smelled on Remus every time she was close to him. Their lips brushed softly against one another. They parted lips to partake in their first real kiss when the door to the Room of Requirement burst open.

"Moony, you've got to come with us. We're just about to…" Sirius looked up to see them about 10 feet in the air. Beth had temporarily lost control of the spell and they dropped a few feet before she could allow them to float the rest of the way to the floor. "Oh sorry about that, mate."

Remus just gave him a very long glare. Beth's eyebrows were furrowed in a very annoyed manner. "What's going on, Padfoot? Is Moony here?" James entered the room. Remus still had his arms around Beth. "Oh, oops."

"You guys have the most bloody perfect timing," growled Remus.

"What's going on, Prongs, Padfoot?" Peter was out of breath trying to catch up with them. "Oh Moony you're here. That's good. What's wrong with Beth? Is she okay?" He was just a little on the slow side sometimes.

"I am fine, Peter. Just feeling a little sick after dropping five feet in the air, Sirius Black. Don't forget that I know almost as much as you do when it comes to magic." She threatened him with her wand.

"Huh?" asked a confused Peter.

"I said I was sorry, Beth. We'll leave. Come on, Wormtail, Prongs."

"No, we'll all leave. I'm tired after that spell." She put on her robes and grabbed her bag. "What is with those nicknames by the way? I've never heard you call yourselves them before."

"Oh, it's just something we have between ourselves. We thought people would ask too many questions if we did it in front of everyone," explained Remus.

"Well I suppose I should feel honored then. Will you tell me what they mean?"

James, Sirius, and Peter all gave Remus a look. "Maybe someday," he replied.

**  
When they returned to the Gryffindor common room, Beth insisted that she needed to retire and didn't give the boys another glance.

"Alright, what happened? Why are all four of you with her?" inquired Lily.

"Well we sort of accidentally interrupted them during _lessons_," Sirius began.

"I still don't see what the big deal was," stated Peter.

James whapped him over the head. "You are so thick sometimes. They were kissing, Peter."

"Aww, that's so sweet," Alice giggled.

"You mean we were going to," corrected Remus.

"Good job interrupting them, you stupid gits," Dorcas scolded.

The three boys looked remorseful. "We are really sorry, mate. We thought you would have kissed her way before then." Sirius shrugged his shoulders.

"Bloody Peeves."

"Ah." They all said in understanding.

"Well, we were just discussing the hostage situation. Do any of you have any theories?" asked Morwenna. The Marauders sat down with the girls.

Everyone had their theories, but the most prominent one was that Voldemort wanted to exchange the Care of Magical Creatures professor for Beth. During this conversation, Remus was rather quiet glancing over to the door of the girls' dormitories. _We were so close to kissing. Everything was so right, so perfect. And then it all went to rubbish. Damn James, Sirius, and Peter. Will I ever get to kiss her now?_ He sighed. _Well at least we know we like each other._

**  
Now that Beth knew that Remus liked her, he figured he should set about to the task of trying to tell her the truth about his condition. Unfortunately, there never seemed to be the right time. She was always with the girls or with all of them. The only time she was alone with him was during Defense lessons. He had even tried to teach her about dark creatures including werewolves, but he figured she must be turning a blind eye where he was concerned if she didn't realize the werewolf signs were the same as his.

A cold February had given way to a rainy March, and Remus decided that he just needed to come out with the truth during the next lessons with Beth. Unfortunately the approach of the full moon came faster than he realized, and he would miss his time with her. And so it was Wednesday when he went to see Madame Pomfrey in the infirmary so that he could be taken out to the Whomping Willow to undergo his transformation later in the Shrieking Shack.

Beth herself was having Potions lessons in the dungeons classroom with Severus. "This is really difficult to make, Severus. How do you make it seem so easy?"

"Well to me it is easy, Elizabeth. I have a natural ability for Potions."

"Must be nice, I wish I felt like I had a natural ability in something."

"In some cases these things take time. In only 6 months, you have had to learn so much magic that you probably haven't even thought about what your natural abilities are." He helped her put the eye of knute into the simmering cauldron.

"The only thing I can think of is that I seem to be able to understand people's emotions and a little bit of what they are thinking. I suppose that helps when discerning whether or not I am able to trust others. Everyone's always telling me that's a fault of mine."

"Indeed, and it is a terrible fault to have, especially in a world like today."

Beth thought about what Remus had said when she had asked him about trust. _**No, you can trust me. Can I trust you?**_ "Severus, I trust Remus and all my other friends. Can I trust you as well?"

She watched him for a while before he answered. "You can always trust me, Elizabeth. But are you sure you can trust Lupin? Haven't you noticed something odd about him? The way that he always claims he's sick."

Beth could feel her temper arising for the first time around Severus. "But he is sick a lot. I've seen him and how deathly pale he looks."

"Yes, of course he does look sick sometimes. There was a few times when he was supposed to be sick, but when I had to run errands for the Potions professor which involved going to the infirmary, he was never there. And I've noticed that his friends are always covering for him. It seems like they have something going on between them that they're keeping from everyone. I'm just wondering what it is."

"What are you trying to say Severus?" Beth was a bit confused having never really noticed anything the Slytherin was referring to except for Remus' illness.

"I am attempting to inform you of the possibility that Lupin might not be as trustworthy as you think he is." He leaned in toward her to emphasize his statement.

"But Severus," she leaned backward, "Remus has always been truthful with me even with his condition although I'm sure it has been hard. I wouldn't want everyone to know that I was sick all the time."

"I just want to you entertain the possibility, Elizabeth. I wouldn't want you to get hurt by someone like him."

"I know him well enough to know that he wouldn't hurt me," she replied indignantly.

"Yes, well this potion must sit for a few days, so we might as well pack up for the night. They put away all the ingredients and borrowed equipment. "I'm sure you're all right to finish the cleaning. I must be going. Prefect duties start very soon."

She nodded her head in understanding and watched him leave the classroom. Beth had begun to gather her own things when she heard voices arguing out in the corridor. She made her way to the door to see what was happening.

"I know you, Snivellus. Always sniveling about, sticking your greasy nose where it doesn't belong. I know you're up to something. You reek of suspicion and foulness."

"At least I don't so miserably attempt to maintain innocence while conducting any nightly activities. I've seen your friend on the grounds when he's supposed to be sick or visiting his mother."

Beth peered out of the dungeons classroom. She could see Sirius stiffen in the pale light of the full moon. Snape continued.

"So arrogant as to believe that people have not noticed you and your friends' traipsing around the Hogwarts grounds when you should be in the castle. Lupin doesn't really go to visit his "sick mother", does he?"

Beth's ears prickled at the sound of Remus' name. She could see Sirius shaking with anger.

"He's breaking rules too, I bet. He is utterly disgraceful as a prefect. I don't know why Dumbledore would want someone so incompetent and cowardly in so important of a position, doesn't even have enough courage and authority to keep you and Potter in check."

Sirius pulled out his wand. "Watch it, Snape. If you're not careful, you'll wind up in more trouble than you bargained for. Remus does go somewhere; he'll be there tonight in fact. If you really want to find out where by all means go to the Whomping Willow. If you push a knot in the tree with a stick, it freezes and there's a secret passageway. I dare you to go. Find out what illegal activities we've been up to. It's dangerous though, Snivellus. It might be too much for you, too much for you and your cauldron-filled knickers!" He jeered, taunting him to go. Snape didn't say anything in reply.

"No response for that, eh? Well I'm going to see if Beth is alright, make sure you haven't hexed her or put her under the Imperius curse." Sirius brushed past Snape, and Beth hurriedly went back to putting her things away. She was just putting her book in her bag when Sirius popped his face in the doorway.

"Hey Beth, finished up here? I came to make sure you…What's wrong?"

Beth looked a little green. _Sirius just dared Severus to go to the Whomping Willow. I've seen that tree in action. He could really hurt himself. I should say something, but I don't want Sirius to know I was just listening in on their conversation._ "I'm fine Sirius. That potion we made today certainly didn't smell like roses. So are we going to the Room of Requirement for my Transfiguration lessons with James?" They began walking toward the Gryffindor Tower.

Sirius seemed a bit nervous. "Well, no actually, not tonight. James, Peter, and I have some business to attend to. I'm sure he can catch up with you tomorrow evening since Remus is sick."

_Something odd is going on. Why haven't I noticed before? I think I really should tell someone about Sirius and Severus' conversation, but who?_ "Sirius, Remus isn't really in the hospital wing, is he?"

"What makes you think he wouldn't be there?" Sirius clearly was sweating now.

"Because he hasn't been there in the past when I've gone to see him at night."

"Well you must have just missed him. He was probably in the bathroom."

"Hmm, is it a coincidence that he said the same thing?"

"Well you know guys, they usually think along the same wavelength."

Beth considered him as they neared the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Sirius, please tell me what's going on? Remus _has_ been keeping something from me, hasn't he?"

"Oh look there's James and Peter at the entrance to the common room."

Beth turned to see them standing there waving. "You're not going to get out of things that easy, Sirius Black!" Her anger rose even further than when she was talking with Severus. "Tell me right now! What has Remus Lupin been keeping from me? Is he so sick that he's dying? Is that what he hasn't wanted to tell me? Where is he? I'm going to talk with him right now." She went to go toward the direction of the infirmary.

James held her back by the shoulders. "You're not going anywhere yet, Beth. What's going on? What's got you so upset?"

"He's sick, and he's dying isn't he, James? That's what he can't bear to tell me. He knows that I've lost so much already, and I…" _Why am I worrying about this right now? Severus is in trouble with the Whomping Willow!_

"And you what, Beth?" James had brought her away from the entrance to a nearby door in the corridor.

Beth checked to make sure no one else was listening. "Oh James, you have to stop him! He's going to get hurt if he goes near the tree!"

James was confused by her sudden switch in topics. "What tree?"

"The Whomping Willow, of course!" Shivers traveled down James' spine.

"What? I don't understand. What's going on? Who's going near the tree? Tell me everything."

"I overheard Sirius arguing with Severus in the dungeon corridor. Sirius dared him to go to the Whomping Willow where there was a secret passageway. And there he would find what you all were up to. He said he would find…James, are you listening?"

_Oh great Godric, Sirius just sent Snape to discover Remus' secret!_ James looked at his watch and then at the window where the full moon shone in. _Oh shit, he's not going to meet Remus but Moony, a fully-grown werewolf! Huh, well that would serve Snape right. But wait he could die or worse get bitten! Remus would feel so guilty. And we don't need another werewolf running around Hogwarts! What to do, what to do. I've got to think quickly._

"Beth, I need you to do something really important for me. Go find Professor Dumbledore somehow and bring him to the entrance hall. I'll be there as soon as I can, and don't follow me."

"But James, where are you going?"

"Don't worry, just do what I said." He took off down the corridor and the stairs.

Sirius joined Beth when he saw James bolt down the hallway. "Where is James going, Beth?"

"I don't know, but I hope he's going to save Severus. He could get hurt by the Whomping Willow."

Sirius shouted a bunch of profanities that made Beth wince. "Come on Peter, we need to go help James. Beth, get back into the common room and wait for our return."

Beth was about to listen to him when she remembered that James had wanted her to find Professor Dumbledore. She stood there for a moment trying to remember where exactly the headmaster's office was. _Of all the times that I'm drawing a blank, it has to be when it's most important to find him!_

The 6th year Gryffindor descended to thankfully the correct floor and was about to make her way down the corridor to his office when she heard someone coming around the corner. She made herself as scarce as possible behind a statue until the unknown person passed, so that she could continue on.

"Where is that Severus Snape? He is supposed to be helping me with prefect duties tonight."

Beth could tell once the person was in the light that it was the Slytherin Marcia Griggs. She held her breath waiting for her to pass which seemed to take forever. As soon as the coast was clear she darted out and ran to the statues in front of the office. "Oh, I don't know the password. Please let me in," she whispered, "someone is in trouble, and I really need to find Professor Dumbledore." The statues remained still.

Beth sat down on the floor next to the statues. _Oh what am I going to do now? Maybe he'll come down soon. I hope the boys are all right, and James saved Severus from the Willow._

"Miss Spenser, are you looking for me?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

Beth jumped up. "Yes professor, I am actually. James asked me to find you and bring you to the entrance hall. I think Severus is in trouble, sir. Sirius told him to go to the Whomping Willow, and I know that it isn't a very nice tree. Do you think they…?"

The headmaster briefly looked alarmed and held up his hand to quiet her. "Miss Spenser, we can talk later. Right now we must go immediately."

The headmaster and Beth had just made it to the Grand Staircase when they heard heavy footsteps behind them. They turned to find Sirius and Peter coming toward them.

"Sirius, Peter, I thought you were going to follow James!" cried Beth.

"We were," replied Sirius, "but Peeves held us up on the fourth floor."

"Yeah, and we couldn't get away until the Bloody Baron came along," Peter added.

"Let's not delay any longer," Professor Dumbledore interrupted, "Since you are all here, follow me. We need to get out onto the grounds."

"Professor Dumbledore, do you know what's going on?" inquired Beth, but he didn't answer and began his descent. She, Sirius, and Peter followed him down the stairs to the entrance hall. They were making there way across the hall when the oak front doors opened, and James came in supporting Snape so that he could walk.

"Severus! You're hurt!" Beth ran to help but stopped when he started cursing.

"Bloody werewolf almost killed me!"

The expletive hit Beth like a tons of bricks falling on top of her. _Werewolf…_

_**Well I sort of have this condition that comes and goes about once a month…The werewolf is human for 29 or 30 days out of the month, and only transforms when there is a full moon…Only if I happen to bite you…The werewolf's bite is deadly and any who survive will become one as well…Well when will you be sick next?...Signs that a werewolf is among you include sickness right before and after the full moon…Can I come visit you in the hospital wing when you're sick then?...Maybe, only if you come during the day…I need my rest at night…rest…at night…night…**_

The full moon shone in one of the windows in the entrance hall attracting her attention. Beth inhaled a huge breath of air. With wide eyes she looked from James to Sirius to Peter to Severus and back to James for some sort of confirmation. James had been watching since he heard her gasp. He blinked his eyes and gave a short nod.

"Professor Dumbledore, if you don't need me I think I'm going to go see Madame Pomfrey."

The headmaster looked over at Beth concerned by her change in demeanor. "Go ahead, Miss Spenser. If I need you, I'll come find you later." As soon as he gave his permission she took off up the stairs.

Sirius watched her go. "Professor, could I make sure Beth is all right? She looks like she could faint at any moment."

The headmaster stared at him for a few moments, considering him. "You may follow and make sure she arrives at the hospital wing. Then, Mr. Black, you are to come directly to my office afterward." He gave him a stern look. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Snape, and Mr. Pettigrew come along with me."

Sirius caught up with Beth rather quickly because his strides were bigger than hers. Plus it helped that she had slowed down after she was out of sight. When he found her, she was holding her head and coughing as if she was going to be sick. She stopped briefly when she saw him. "Sirius, Remus is a werewolf isn't he? You can't lie to me any longer. I know the truth now." Beth continued up the stairs from the ground floor to the first floor where the hospital wing was located.

"I wasn't trying to lie to you Beth. It's just that it's Remus' secret to tell. We tried to convince him several times that he needed to tell you." He paused but hurried on with the next statement. "And I'm sure he's tried to tell you before but the timing wasn't right. No one in the school knows, you know except James, Peter, Professor Dumbledore, the teachers, Madame Pomfrey, and now Snape. Just bloody great, he'll probably tell everyone. I wish I hadn't told him."

"You are so stupid, you know that Sirius Black. Severus could have been killed because of your idiocy and prejudice…" She began another coughing fit. "You're worrying about keeping Remus' stupid secret when a man's life was at stake!

"Whoa hold on," He put his arm around her, "it's not just a stupid secret. I admit I was wrong and irresponsible, but Remus' life is at stake now if Snape tells."

Beth pushed Sirius off of her. "Well maybe you should have thought about that when you told Severus to go to the Whomping Willow." She gave him an angry glare and entered the hospital wing alone.

**  
Remus awoke the next morning feeling very sore. He hadn't remembered much about the previous night, just that things were different. He had smelled a lot of human blood as a werewolf. There was also a lot of shouting, and he could have sworn that James and possibly the other Marauders were at the Shrieking Shack, but he didn't know. Remus looked around for Madame Pomfrey but instead found Beth sleeping on a hospital bed. _Oh Merlin, what is she doing here? I don't remember what happened last night. I hope she wasn't involved._ There appeared to be no scratches on her body. _I have a bad feeling about this. I hope she didn't find out before I had the chance to tell her. What am I talking about? I have had plenty of chances to tell her and still I didn't! Why am I such a coward?_

Beth roused in her bed, and her eyes opened. She turned her head to look around the room. She jumped when she noticed Remus sitting on the bed next to her but didn't say anything at first. She laid her head on her pillow and pretended to go back to sleep.

_Oh boy, I'm pretty sure she knows. Ergh, I could curse myself for not telling her. That night when we told each other about our feelings, I could have told her then. WHY DIDN'T I THEN?_ "Beth, are you awake?"

She sighed. _Oh, what in the world am I going to say to him? How could he not tell me after all that we've been through?_

"Yes, Remus." She sat up rather wearily and propped herself against her pillow, trying to keep the hurt from her voice. She looked over at him straight into his sad and worried eyes. _Oh how can I be angry with him when he's looking at me like that? It's impossible to be upset with the person that you're in love with. I don't understand why he never told me. _"Remus, it…it doesn't bother me that you're a werewolf."

She heard him exhale a sigh of relief. "But, why didn't you tell me? I wish you would have told me. I still care about you. It's just that I'm feeling…hurt. I think I need some time to myself. I hope you understand." Beth looked into his eyes, which held sorrow and regret in them. She couldn't help but turn away.

_Oh, how I wish I could tell her that I love her right now. But I'm sure that would only make things worse. I'd give anything right now to go back and fix my mistake._ "I promise I really wanted to tell you. I was just scared of your…rejection." His voice wavered as he held back the tear he could feel in his eye. "I understand if you need some time alone. I hope you'll understand and won't stay…hurt."

She nodded. "I think I'll go back to Gryffindor Tower after Madame Pomfrey comes to check on me," she announced.

Her statement reminded Remus of the previous night. "Beth, do you have any idea what happened last night? Were you…involved at all?"

Beth stiffened and her face changed to a rather unpleasant expression. Before she could answer, Madame Pomfrey bustled in to check on her. "You're free to go, Miss Spenser. I must warn you that you really need to take care of yourself. It isn't healthy to be checking yourself into the infirmary so often." She swept out of the room as quickly as she had come.

Beth turned her head toward Remus and looked him in the eyes. "_Sirius_ can tell you what happened last night," she said rather nastily. She departed from the hospital wing, leaving Remus alone once again.

_Sirius? Now I'm really curious as to what happened. It sounds like his fault._ Remus sighed. _I sincerely hope that Beth will understand why I was so afraid to tell her. I hope she knows that I really wanted to tell her. I hope this doesn't ruin things for us. I don't know what I'd do without her._

Later that day the other three Marauders came in to visit the werewolf. They all sat around his bed silently. Remus waited to see if they would say anything. He finally became impatient and decided to start. "Alright, I know something's going on. Beth was in here this morning but she didn't say very much. How does she know about my secret?"

"Why don't you tell him, Black? Tell him why it's _your_ fault that Beth knows about his condition and that she's not the only one who knows now." James retorted and shot a nasty glare at Sirius.

Remus' face fell. His friends weren't being very friendly with one another, and Sirius wasn't even looking at him. _I wonder what James means by that. Oh Merlin, it's worse than I thought._ "What happened? Tell me now."

Sirius answered but didn't look up at him. "Snivellus and I were arguing in the corridor. He was insulting you, all of us. I was angry, so I told him where he could go." Remus could feel the dread in him rising. "I told him how to get into the Willow and the Shrieking Shack."

"YOU WHAT?" Remus bellowed. "ARE YOU BLOODY INSANE? I COULD HAVE KILLED HIM OR WORSE BITTEN HIM!" He settled back on his pillows. _I can't believe this. Sirius almost allowed me to kill someone. That must be why Beth was so angry when I asked what happened._

"Neither happened, you just scratched him up a bit, and…"

"Yeah because I went and saved Snape's arse from him! And now we're all in trouble because of you! And worst of all Snape knows Remus' secret!"

"I KNOW, JAMES, I KNOW. YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME ANYMORE. I KNOW WHAT I DID WAS WRONG!"

"What is going on here?" Madame Pomfrey came in from her office. "I'll not have you badgering my patient when he's trying to get better. Get out now!"

Sirius looked over at his friend on the hospital bed. "Remus…"

"I don't want to talk to you," he gritted through his teeth, "Get out." Remus turned his body away from them. Sirius hung his head in shame and left the infirmary.

"Hey Remus, I'll talk to Beth for you. She'll come around."

"Thanks James, but I think she just needs some time alone. I hope she'll be able to sort through her feelings, and we can talk soon."

"Do you think you'll be able to forgive Sirius?" asked Peter.

"I don't know, Pete. I'm not sure it will be any time soon."

**  
Over the next few days, everyone in the school was up in arms about what happened that night. They noticed that the famous Marauders weren't talking to one another. No pranks were pulled over the next week, and many people were beginning to worry that whatever had happened was the end of the Marauders.

On Saturday morning in their dormitory, the girls tried to get Beth to talk about what occurred since they surmised that she must have been involved somehow because she wasn't talking to either Remus or Sirius.

"Beth did something happen with Dia at some point this week?" Morwenna asked, trying to get anything out of her that they could.

"No, everything's fine with Dia." She sat on her bed with her knees to her chest.

It's lunch time girls, and I'm hungry," Alice complained.

"Alright, we'll go to lunch then. Beth, you joining us?" She shook her head. Dorcas turned toward where Lily was sitting on her bed. "Lily, you coming?"

"Uh, yeah in just a few minutes. I just need to finish my Charms essay." The other 3 left the room to go down to the Great Hall. As soon as they had closed the door, Lily shut her book and put it aside. "This is about Remus, isn't it?

Beth lifted her head in surprise. "What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.

Lily looked into her friend's eyes. They were a bit darker than her normal light hazel color. She supposed that they changed with her mood just like everyone's did. Lily knew that her own green eyes became rather dark whenever she was sad or angry. "I know what he is. I figured it out in my first year, but I haven't said anything to him. I've treated him just the same as I always have."

"Oh, well it's not that I care that he's a werewolf or anything, Lily. Knowing doesn't make me scared of him. It's the fact that he didn't tell me."

Lily sat on the edge of Beth's bed. "Listen, you're got to understand something about people who are werewolves. After I found out, I did all the research I could on them. They're outcasts in society. I'm willing to bet that James, Sirius, and Peter are the first real friends that Remus has ever had. He can't just go anywhere whenever he feels like it because he has to take into consideration when he's going to fall ill and make sure he has a safe place to transform away from humans. I'm sure all the teachers have taken great care in making sure that no one finds out what Remus is because he'd probably be forced to leave the school."

Beth looked up at Lily. "Do you really think so? Things are that bad if you're a werewolf? Wouldn't Dumbledore make sure that he could stay?"

"I don't know. I'm sure he'd try, but once the angry letters from parents came in, he'd probably be forced to expel Remus. And that's not all either. I've read about Ministry legislation as well. The laws make it nearly impossible to find a job if you're a werewolf. You have to have identification papers and all that. Dumbledore I'm sure was kind enough to allow Remus the opportunity to be educated here at Hogwarts, but once he leaves there's no telling how hard he will have it."

"I didn't know that. Poor Remus."

"Indeed, so don't be too hard on him. He probably wanted to tell you the truth but was too afraid of your reaction. I'm sure he at least attempted to enlighten you."

Beth thought about what Lily had just said. "You're probably right. There was loads of time when I'm sure he wanted to tell me, but it just didn't work out. And he has been trying to teach me about werewolves in the past couple weeks. I just didn't see it until the other night."

"The other night? What happened then?

"Oh, I don't think I'm supposed to say."

"You can trust me, Beth. I won't tell anyone else. I understand how important it is to keep Remus' secret."

Beth looked around the room and began whispering what little she knew of the tale. "Well Sirius and Severus were arguing after my Potions lessons on Wednesday. Sirius dared him to go to the Whomping Willow."

"Whomping Willow?" asked Lily confused about where this was going.

"You see there's a secret passageway under the Willow I think, and it must lead to where Remus transforms I suppose." And Beth launched into the rest of the story. "We were just crossing the entrance hall when James came in with Severus. I think James saved Severus' life."

"James saved Severus' life?" echoed Lily. "Why would he do that?"

"I don't know. I suppose he would do that for anyone, right?"

"Perhaps." This new-found information gave Lily a lot to think about. _Maybe James Potter isn't so bad after all._ "So what about you and Remus?"

"I don't know; I'm still feeling a bit hurt. You'd think he might want to mention the fact that he's a werewolf before telling me he has feelings for me."

"Well, like I said before, Beth, werewolves are feared creatures. People don't generally like to associate themselves with werewolves even if they are as nice as Remus. He probably has a hard time with talking about his feelings, always afraid of rejection, which I would assume is common with people who are werewolves."

"You know, you're right, Lily. I'll talk to him during our next lesson."

**  
Beth packed up all her books that she would need for her Defense lessons and went down to the common room to find Remus. He was sitting in one of the chairs closer to the fireplace, reading a school book. "Remus, are you ready for lessons?" she asked a bit nervous about what would happen once they were alone.

Remus' book slipped out of his hands. "Beth? Yes of course!" He appeared to be bit flustered and taken aback by her sudden willingness to talk to him. He gathered his things, and they made their way to the Room of Requirement. They dropped their bags on the floor, and Beth sat on the floor hoping Remus would follow suit. He remained standing unsure of what to do.

"So I've been doing a lot of reading and talking." Lily had given her permission to tell Remus that she knew about his condition.

"Talking? To who? James?" Remus asked nervously as he sat on the floor next to her.

"No, Lily, she knows about, well you know." Beth saw the look on his face and had to reassure him. "She's the one who mentioned it first. I didn't tell her if that's what you're thinking. She's known since first year but has never said anything."

Remus appeared to relax. "So you've been researching, you say?"

"Yes, I never realized how hard of a life werewo—you have. If you had told me I would have understood, Remus. Remember the nightmare I told you about with the werewolf? I wasn't upset because I was scared of the creature. I was upset because I didn't want to see you get hurt." She watched him with a tear rolling down her cheek.

"I'm sorry, Beth, I wanted to tell you. I figured you had a right to know as much as you had a right to know that I…have feelings for you. I promise I did try to tell you, but I guess it just wasn't enough. I'm sorry you had to find out like you did." Tears filled up in his own eyes.

Beth moved closer to him. "Don't worry, Remus, I still care for you. Just no more secrets between us, okay?" She wiped away his tears with her thumb.

"No, I promise, no more secrets." He sighed with relief. Now that things were patched up between him and Beth, he thought about Sirius. How could he stay angry with the few friends he had? "Now I have to worry about trying to forgive Sirius for being such an imbecile."

"What happened after I left them? Did they have to go to Dumbledore's office?"

Remus nodded his head. "James told me they all received detentions, Sirius for the rest of the school year. He had to write a letter of apology to Snape, I think. And Dumbledore forbade Snape to tell anyone about me."

"Well that's good, Severus will keep his word."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, he's my friend, and I trust him."

Remus looked at her skeptically. _She may trust him, but I still think he's a sniveling git._ "So do you think I should forgive Sirius?" He wrapped his arms around her, and she settled her head on his chest.

"I think you should prank him," she smirked.

"What? Did I just hear Miss Spenser give me permission to prank someone?" Remus grinned as well.

"Well he deserves it don't you think, Mr. Lupin?"

"I certainly do. Any ideas?"

"As a matter of fact I do have some up my sleeve." She began whispering in his ear. "First, we'll…"


	12. An Unwanted Proprosal

Chapter 12 An Unwanted Proposal

Remus had to admit that Beth really did have some good ideas for pranks. He was going to enjoy watching Sirius suffer even though they were friends. He deserved it after putting Remus through such a hard time. On Friday, the first day of pranks, they charmed all of Sirius' books to bite him if he tried to open them. On Saturday, he woke up spello-taped to his bed.

On Sunday morning he came to breakfast looking haggard and worn-out. "Alright, guys, very funny, I've learned my lesson. Now tell me already who's been pranking me?"

Beth and Remus pretended like they still weren't talking to him. James and Peter continued to eat their breakfast like they didn't hear him. And the rest of girls shrugged their shoulders with an "I have no idea" look on their faces. The girls knew something had happened a couple weeks previous because of the temporary disbandment of the Marauders and Beth wasn't speaking with Remus or Sirius, but no one would tell them what or why. Lily pretended like she didn't know what was going on.

Sirius continued, "I'll find out soon enough. I received a note on my nightstand this morning saying that if I bring a list of items on this parchment to the Room of Requirement, then the originator of the pranks would be revealed. No one else besides us knows about that place."

"Let me see," Alice grabbed the note out of his hand. "Hmm, don't recognize the writing. And Dumbledore also knows about the Room of Requirement." Sirius frowned.

"Yeah, remember he's the one who told us about it in the first place. Well, at least you'll finally find out who's in on the pranks." Morwenna attempted to give him a bit of optimism.

Sirius gave her an annoyed glance as if she were an accomplice. He took the note back hastily from Alice. "I don't think Dumbledore would be pranking anyone," he said as he walked away.

"Okay, which one of you is it?" Lily glanced from James to Remus to Peter.

"It's me actually, Lily," confessed Beth. The girls looked at her in shock. "Well Remus and I."

"When did you two start talking again?" asked the redhead.

"Oh last Thursday during lessons right before the pranks started."

"Sirius' is going to be so mad when he finds out that it's you two," spoke James.

Remus shrugged. "He'll get over it soon enough. He's got spring holiday to forget about it."

"Oh! I totally forgot about that. You're all leaving aren't you?" Beth looked around at everyone.

"Yeah our family likes us to come home once in a while though I couldn't imagine why," grinned Alice.

"I'm going home this time to visit my mum, make sure she's doing okay and all." Remus glanced at Beth meaningfully.

"Well I wish I could leave too."

"Don't worry about it. You'll get a week without lessons!" James smirked.

"How about if we girls floo-ed to Hogsmeade, and you met us there, Beth?"

"Oh, I don't know, remember what happened last time?"

"What if we came too just for extra protection?" offered Remus. "Would you girls agree to that?"

"Yeah it'll be fun. We could split up but stick near by in case something happens," suggested Morwenna. Everyone agreed.

**  
Beth and Remus had sent Sirius to buy several things in Hogsmeade such as candy and butterbeer. He made his way to the Room of Requirement where Remus and Beth had planned that she would be waiting for Sirius alone. He arrived soon after the appointed time, his eyes looking at the floor so he didn't notice Beth right way. She cleared her throat to announce her presence.

Sirius raised his head in her direction. His eyes were wide with shock. "Y-you?" he asked incredulously. Then he began to laugh and dropped the things he had been holding.

Beth pulled out her wand and crossed her arms. "What is so funny? You don't think that I could pull all those pranks on you, Sirius?" More laughter. "Be careful, Sirius Black, I know a lot more magic now." He was too busy laughing to hear her.

"Very well then, you asked for it." She sent several spells at him, carefully choosing ones that would not require hospitalization. He had stopped laughing after the first spell, but she wanted to finish him off with a 'Petrificus Totalus.'

Sirius went stiff as a board and fell to the floor. Beth walked over to him and bent down. "I warned you. I hope you've learned your lesson never to underestimate me. I must admit that Remus did help me since you're both in the same dorm, but all the pranks were my ideas."

Beth could tell that even though Sirius was frozen he wore a proud look on his face. "Now the situation at hand is whether or not Remus is going to forgive you for what you did at the last full moon." Remus came out of his hiding spot and walked up behind her.

"I hadn't wanted to forgive you for a long while," Remus began. "I hope you realize the seriousness of the situation. You not only jeopardized several people's lives including mine but also risked my secret getting out to the rest of the Hogwarts' population." They could see the sadness in Sirius' eyes that told them he was extremely sorry for his mistake.

"Beth and I have talked, and she encouraged me to try to forgive you because after all you're one of my best friends. I don't know what I would have done all these years if I didn't have you, James, and Peter for friends. We are the Marauders, and we can't give up that legacy. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I forgive you, Padfoot." The black-haired boy looked extremely relieved.

"Hmm, should I perform the counter-curse? Do you think he's ready?" Beth's eyes danced with mischief.

"Yeah, I suppose you should, though it would be fun to leave him like that." Sirius gave them an annoyed glance. Beth performed the counter-curse, and Remus helped his fellow Marauder to stand.

"Thanks guys. I am really sorry. I promise it won't happen again."

"What, you doing something completely rash, Padfoot?" quipped Remus.

"Well I can't promise that Moony, but I won't send anyone to the Whomping Willow again no matter how angry I am."

"I suppose that's an acceptable enough of an apology," Beth cut in. "By the way, thanks for the gifts," she smirked and picked up a chocolate frog.

"You're very welcome. Look at you," Sirius put his arm around her, "I must say I am impressed with all of those pranks. I think we have a possible 5th Marauder on our hands," he grinned.

"Oh no, I don't think that would be a good idea," insisted Beth.

"Why not?" He put his other arm around Remus' shoulders. "You could be in competition with Moony for the title of 'Master of Ideas.'"

Beth smiled at them. "I'm honored at the offer, but I think this Marauder thing should be between the four of you." She changed topics hoping to distract Sirius. "Will you tell me now what your nicknames mean?"

Remus and Sirius looked at each other. "Let's go get Prongs and Wormtail." And so they did. The four of them told Beth their story and made her promise never to tell anyone. They even brought out the Marauder's Map, completely finished.

"Wow, this is brilliant."

**  
Severus Snape dipped his quill into an ink bottle on his desk in a secret room off of the Slytherin common room. The parchment was right there in front of him. All he had to do was write the message and send it by the owl that was waiting for him in the common room window. He paused for another moment before putting the quill to the parchment, scratching away quickly.

_In response to your owl, I have ascertained some information that might be of use to you. During the last meeting I had with the subject of our previous letters, I found that the subject will not be staying here for the summer holiday but is in fact staying with relatives._

Severus paused again wondering if he should be writing this letter. He continued.

_Also, I have overheard that the subject will be in Hogsmeade on the 23__rd__ day of April, 1977. Take caution however and make sure you are not alone. I must warn you that you should be prepared for a refusal._

Severus put down his quill and sealed the letter. He made to get up but quickly sat down again. The owl was waiting for him. Could he send the letter? _There is a danger involved, should I send this? Will someone get hurt? Will she be hurt?_ He didn't know what would happen if he sent the message. _What has she done to deserve my sending of this letter?_ He rubbed his temples to try and resolve the pain that was slowly creeping up in them. _She is the reason I am still here to write this letter. I should throw this away_. He made to crumple up the parchment but stopped.

_I can't throw this away. What am I thinking? I won't live to see my next birthday if I don't send this exact message. No, this is for the best._

Severus slipped from his hiding place so as not to be seen exiting it. The owl swooped down to pick up the letter from his hand and took off out the window and into the night sky. "Why am I really doing this? What is gained by my involvement?"

**  
Remus left Licker with Beth at the start of the holidays so that she didn't have to be alone. Beth spent her time with her studies during the mornings when she was able to sleep soundly through the night. In the evenings she gave her attention to the Crup, but in the afternoons Beth still received lessons in Magical Creatures from Dia.

On Wednesday afternoon in particular, Beth's mind seemed sharper, and she remembered some of the conversation she had had with Dia the day that her cousin had hexed her. She was curious about the fact that Dia spent her summers with the Slytherin Marcia Griggs and her mother.

During a break from lessons, Beth decided to bring up the subject. "Dia, are you really friends with Griggs?"

"Yes, what's it to you?"

"I was just wondering how she's doing. I know things have been hard on her recently. I haven't seen her at meals. Is she staying at the castle for this holiday?"

"No, she isn't. Marcia went to spend time with her sister. I don't think she's coming back this year. She mentioned something about trying to take her exams from home and attending to other business concerning her mum. I don't blame her. I wouldn't want to be here with all the stress she's been put through." Dia glanced up at Beth with narrowed eyes.

"It's not my fault you know. I'm really sorry it happened though." Dia ignored her protest and apology.

_I really do feel bad about Professor Griggs' capture but really what could I have done to prevent it? I really hope that Voldemort hasn't done anything to her. Oh, I'm putting all these people in danger. Maybe I should just go…_

Beth pushed those thoughts out of her head. She knew she was being silly. _Hmm, I have my own exams coming up soon. I hope I'll be ready for them._

**  
The night that followed was one of the worst for Beth as far as nightmares were concerned.

_**The room was dusty, and many of the furniture covered in sheets. The windows were boarded up so as to not let any light in. A crack in boards at the top allowed a beam of moonlight to fall into the middle of the room. Beth waited till her eyes became more adjusted to the lack of light. After a moment or two she noticed that there were two figures in the room with her, and they were conversing.**_

"_**Let me go." A female voice, undoubtedly shaking slightly.**_

"_**What makes you think I can do that? You definitely have your uses for now." Beth could hear the evilness in the other voice, a man's.**_

"_**Nonsense, why won't you tell me the reason for my capture? I should be at Hogwarts with Dumbledore."**_

_**The man hissed at the sound of Dumbledore's name. "Don't presume to tell me what to do. I am much more powerful than you. I can break you without a sweat." The man muttered something and the woman fell to her knees screaming.**_

_**Beth flinched. **__How can someone be so evil?__** After a minute or two, the screaming stopped. Beth moved forward to try to help, but her hands only went through the woman's back when she touched her. **_

"_**Are you quite done attempting to reason with me? If you are I have an offer that you won't be able to refuse." Beth waited for her answer but it never came.**_

_The amazement and wonder of Professor Dumbledore's office came into view. Beth sat at a desk scratching quickly on a piece of parchment. She re-read her paper and then moved on. She appeared to be frustrated and having a difficult time. Professor Dumbledore came into the office._

"_Are you finished with the written portion of the exam, Miss Spenser? As soon as you are ready we can begin the practical exam." Beth nodded her head and finished the last question. She gave her parchment to the headmaster, and he led her to a place where they could perform the practical portion of the exam._

"_Alright, first I want you to become invisible."_

'_Invisible!' thought Beth. 'I have no idea how to do that!' "Uh, sir, I…"_

"_Can't do that?" He marked something on a sheet of parchment. "Let's try how you are doing at Occulmency then. 1, 2, 3…"_

'_Occu-what? I don't even remember hearing of that! What is Professor Dumbledore trying to do to me?'_

_The scene faded again, and Beth was with her friends this time. They were all on broomsticks flying and messing around. She soon realized, however, that they were getting farther and farther away. She tried to fly closer to them._

"_Wait, don't leave me behind! Please come back. I don't want to be alone." _

The nightmares continued in this fashion well into the night. Beth tossed and turned trying to figure out what they meant until finally she gave up and took another dreamless sleep potion.

**  
On the last morning of the spring holiday, Beth took the secret passage to Honeydukes with Licker to meet up with Lily, Alice, and the Marauders. Dorcas and Morwenna hadn't been able to get away for the day. After promising to meet up at the Three Broomsticks for lunch, the boys and girls split up.

"Where shall we go?" inquired Alice.

"I really want to get more sweets from Honeydukes, and several birthdays are coming up that I need buy presents for," Beth replied.

"Why don't we browse all the shops then?" suggested Lily.

The girls spent the morning going through most of the shops, finding lots to buy for other people as well as themselves. Licker tagged along at their heels. Their last stop was Scrivenshaft's. The 3 girls needed new quills and there was one more present that Beth needed to buy. They talked while picking out their favorite writing tools.

Beth examined an eagle quill. "I'm glad I was able to buy some sweets for study food. I've started over the holiday since none of you were around. Studying has been a real nightmare! I don't know how I'm ever going to pass the examination Dumbledore will give me. It's only been 8 months since I've begun learning magic!"

"But you've learned a tremendous amount of magic in that time, Beth! Trust me if Dumbledore didn't think you could handle it, he wouldn't have asked in the first place," Lily reassured her as she put back a lavender colored quill.

"So you really think I'll do well on Dumbledore's exam then?" Beth looked at both of them.

"Of course Beth," answered Alice, "look at how much you've learned. You aren't the only one who has been working hard this year. We've been trying to make sure that you know everything that you should know. Even Snape, though he is a real git, has helped you tremendously with your potion-making skills. He must have a soft spot for you Beth," she winked as she decided to add a snowy owl quill to her collection.

Beth cheeks turned a bright pink. "Alice, really I'm just friends with Severus. I don't like him in that way. And you both know that I'm sort of seeing Remus."

"Yes, we know. What is happening with you two anyway? What is 'sort of?'"

"I don't know. I like him, and I think he likes me a lot too. I suppose we're both a bit shy when it comes to things like this. I don't know what my problem is really. Being with him is amazing. I get goose bumps whenever he brushes up against me accidentally. He's easy to talk to, too, but I just get butterflies in my stomach when I think about trying to tell him how I really feel and that I want to be with him. Have either of you ever felt that way about a guy?"

"Definitely, Beth," replied Alice, "I get that way around Frank all the time. I think he's really special." Alice had finally gotten up the courage to talk to Frank after Christmas and they recently started dating. "What about you, Lily?"

"No, not yet, but someday I will. I'm in no hurry. Could you imagine if it was one of the boys that went to Hogwarts?"

"Haha, yeah like James Potter," Alice teased her. Beth laughed.

Lily sat, shocked. "No way, Alice Prewett! It won't ever be him. He's too immature. We have nothing in common at all."

"How do you know you don't have anything in common? You've never gotten to know him. People grow up eventually. I bet he'll turn out to be someone who's as attractive on the inside as he is on the outside. He's already started, you know. You're going to be in trouble then, Lily Evans."

Lily rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue. "Well aren't we Miss Psychology today?" She didn't say anything else afraid that she might give her true feelings away. The truth was that she really did find James Potter attractive and was secretly pleased that he seemed to be maturing from the inside. Lily knew that she could trust her friends with her secret, but she could barely admit this new change in her feelings to herself let alone other people. She decided it was best to wait things out.

Beth, sensing that Lily was a little bit uncomfortable, changed topics. "So, what should I do when…?" She stopped when she heard barking close by.

"Blasted crup! How did he get in here?"

"Oh no, I better save Licker." The 3 girls ran to the corner where the storeowner was attempting to swat at the crup with a broom. "Oh sir, please don't. He's my pet. I'm really sorry if he's bothered you."

"Young lady, no pets are allowed in my store! Take 'em and get out all 4 of you!" The girls paid for their quills, picked up Licker, and left the shop.

"What an old grouch!" complained Lily.

"Are you all right, Licker?" Beth asked the crup. "He didn't hurt you did he?" Licker barked and his tongue touched her nose. She put him down on the ground now that they were outside of the store.

"Why don't we head to the Three Broomsticks a little bit early for lunch? I'm sure Madame Rosmerta wouldn't mind having Licker around," suggested Alice.

They were making their way to the pub when the crup spotted a butterfly he wanted to chase and took off toward the Shrieking Shack.

"Licker, come back here!" they called after him. Beth, Alice, and Lily followed the crup, who had bounded behind the shack. After they caught up with him they watched as he attempted to pounce on the butterfly. He missed as the insect took flight and he received a face full of dirt. The girls burst into fits of laughter. Licker turned around at the sound of their voices and began to growl fiercely. They stopped laughing and looked at him quietly, thinking that he was upset with them.

A throat-clearing could be heard from behind, and the three girls turned around quickly, wands out to see who was addressing them. Beth was surprised to see Lucius Malfoy, while Lily and Alice glared at him. They remembered him even from their first year at Hogwarts.

"Hello Elizabeth, it's good to see you again so soon. How is school going for you?" he asked politely. Alice and Lily narrowed their eyes.

"You know this wanker, Beth?" inquired Alice.

"Yes, we met in Diagon Alley at Christmas time." Beth was confused by her friend's reactions to the blond-haired man. "Why, do you know…?"

"Ah yes I remember now, the train incident during my last year at Hogwarts. The Black sheep and his miscreant friends were attempting to play heroes. How pleasant to see the Prewett sister and Mudblood again."

_Mudblood? That's what Griggs called Lily before! This man is not very nice like I once thought he was._

Alice and Lily both pointed their wands at him. "You want to say that again, Malfoy?" Alice dared him. Beth did not follow suit but kept her wand ready just in case.

Malfoy watched them, amused at their reactions. "Now, now put your wands down," he directed them as though he were talking to a bunch of children. "There's no need to cause a fuss with so many people wandering around the village at this time of day." He paused snapping his fingers. "Well, ladies, I really hate to intrude on your fun, but I must speak with your friend here." He waved his hand in Beth's direction. She was looking beyond him at the two menacing figures that had appeared behind him. Malfoy followed her gaze.

"Elizabeth, these are my friends, Crabbe and Goyle. Boys, will you be so kind as to show Miss Prewett and her friend the path back to the village. They seemed to have gotten lost. Oh and don't forget to carry their bags for them. I must speak with Elizabeth alone for a few minutes."

"We will not leave Beth here alone with the likes of you, Malfoy. We will stay here thank you very much. What ever you have to say to Beth, you can say in front of us." Lily tried to keep the fear growing within her under control.

"That's very touching, but this is a private matter that doesn't concern you." He motioned to Crabbe and Goyle, who picked up Lily, Alice, and Beth's things and made to grab the other two girls.

"Don't you dare touch me or I'll hex you into oblivion," hissed Alice.

"That won't be necessary. Expelliarmus!" Lily and Alice's wands flew into Malfoy's hand. He gave them to Crabbe and Goyle. "You'll follow quietly or…" He made a snapping motion with his hands. The two burly men grabbed the auburn and blond-haired girls and pulled them to the front of the Shack and out of sight. Licker followed the girls growling at the two men trying to bite at their ankles.

Beth was nervous because she was now alone with Malfoy. The way he commanded people around was frightening. _What could he possibly have to speak with me about?_

Lucius put his arm on Beth's shoulder breaking her from her reverie. "Elizabeth, I have a proposition for you, but first I must tell you a story…"

"Let us go you buffoons." Alice tried to get out of Crabbe and Goyle's grasp.

"He has to have sufficient time to speak with your friend."

"I swear if he does anything to her, I'll personally kick him in the pants." Lily didn't have time to continue because Beth emerged from behind the Shrieking Shack alone. Crabbe and Goyle let go of the two girls, handed them their wands, and disappeared as quickly as they had come.

Lily, more concerned with Beth, looked her over to make sure there were no bruises or surface scratches.

The girls heard heavy footsteps coming toward them. They turned to see the Marauders running in their direction. "Hey, what's going on? We saw those two men holding onto you. Are you all right, Lily?" asked a concerned James.

"We're all fine, thank you James for asking about the rest of us," Alice retorted.

Lily ignored James' question. "Beth, are _you_ all right? Malfoy didn't hurt you did he?" She looked into Beth's eyes, which had been dark many times before during the year, but Lily was startled to see that they were much darker than usual.

"What?! _The_ Malfoy?!" exclaimed Sirius.

"What happened here?" Remus attempted to remain calm which was difficult when things involved Beth. He looked over at Beth who had begun shaking. He grabbed her arm to hold her steady.

"I-I need to s-sit down." He led her to a near by bench and the others followed. Remus knelt down in front of Beth. "You're gonna be okay. We're all here now, you're safe. Tell us what happened."

Beth continued to shake and didn't answer at first. "We were following Licker behind the Shack, and he came. His friends pulled the girls away leaving me alone. He made me nervous. He…he…" she stopped.

"He what?"

"It's okay. You can tell us." Remus stroked her arm in reassurance.

He gave me…" Beth appeared to be having trouble getting the words out. "gave me a proposition…" she trailed off.

"A proposition? For what?" Lily and the others were becoming exceedingly worried. Beth seemed to be paler with every word she spoke. "To join _him_…" There was a collective intake of breath.

"You mean Voldemort?" Sirius asked incredulously. Beth nodded.

"Oh, this is horrible!" cried Alice.

"Persistent little bugger, isn't he?" James furrowed his brow.

"What did you say to him, Beth?" Remus asked.

"No…of course, but…I'm scared. What's next? Will he try force next time? What if I'm completely and totally alone?"

"Don't worry, you won't be. We'll make sure of that." Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

"I knew Malfoy would be the kind of person to be in league with Voldemort, one of his Death Eaters. What did Malfoy do when you said no?"

"He said he would give me time and hoped I would reconsider. _He_ wouldn't be pleased."

"Dear Merlin," whispered Peter. No one knew what to say, and so silence ensued for a long while. It was Sirius who finally suggested that they shouldn't stay there in Hogsmeade too much longer.

"You're right Sirius. I'll stay with you, Beth. James and Sirius can bring my things on the train tomorrow."

"No offense Remus," Alice cut in, "but I think Lily or I should be the ones to do that. You really shouldn't be in the girls' dormitory. We can stay with her tonight. We can owl Morwenna and Dorcas to pick up our stuff and bring it to the station for us."

"Are you sure, Lily, Alice? I'd really like to make sure…"

Lily interrupted him. "Remus we can take care of Beth for one night. You can see her tomorrow when you return."

"But…"

"I'll be all right. The girls should stay. We can go tell Professor Dumbledore what happened. We'll be okay at Hogwarts." Beth spoke up.

Remus looked defeated. "Okay. Lily and Alice will take care of you." He gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek. James and Sirius enveloped her in a big hug while Peter gave a small awkward one. Lily and Alice helped Beth to her feet and put an arm around her.

"Stay safe guys." Alice said to the boys, "We'll see you tomorrow at the feast." They picked up their bags and called Licker to follow.

"Bye Beth," Remus called after them.

**  
After owling Morwenna and Dorcas as well as Lily's and Alice's parents, Beth insisted that they should go to the Headmaster's office. However, Alice and Lily convinced her that it was best that they didn't since she wasn't supposed to be at Hogsmeade. So instead they made their way to their dormitory.

"I still don't understand," Alice shook her head, "how you walked away from Malfoy unscathed. Wasn't he mad when you said you wouldn't join?"

"Yes, he was, but what could he do with you both close by and many other villagers walking around? He did assure me though that Voldemort has plans for me. And he promised that wouldn't be the last time I saw him."

Lily gasped. "Voldemort has plans for you? Beth do you have any idea what that means? People who don't join him are always killed. No one has been able to survive once he's decided to kill them."

The words hung over the three of them. Beth looked even more scared. She hesitated for a bit before speaking. "I'll be safe though won't I, here at Hogwarts?"

"Yes, I suppose. It is the safest place in the world besides Gringotts." Lily ended the conversation there. She didn't want to think about Voldemort putting a hit out on one of her friends.

**  
Dorcas and Morwenna excused themselves from the train compartment that they were sharing with the Marauders to go to the loo. James and Sirius ceased their game of wizard chess as soon as the door closed behind them. Remus had been extremely quiet ever since the turn of events the previous night.

"Moony, cat got your tongue?"

The werewolf slowly turned his head from the window to look at his 3 best friends. "I'm just thinking that's all."

"About what, mate?" Sirius prompted him.

"What if Malfoy had had the chance to capture Beth right then and there? What if he had hurt her? What if…?"

"Moony, please don't do this to yourself. You'll drive yourself insane. The important thing is that we did get there and that Beth is all right. We'll all take care of her and make sure that nothing happens to her."

"But you don't understand. I feel like I've lost her already. Nothing's going to be the same anymore. We'll all be too worried about whether Voldemort or another Death Eater will be thinking of some sneaky way to get to her."

"Remus calm down," squeaked Peter.

"We understand that. A risk we're willing to take. You know she's almost to the point where she can completely defend herself. She'll be all right by summer."

"She'll be all right maybe, but what about me?" Remus was met with blank stares. He sighed. "I don't want to lose her."

"What's really on your mind, Moony?" James asked.

"Nothing, Prongs. I'm just really worried about Beth that's all."

"Moony, for the millionth time, she's perfectly safe at the castle with Alice and Lily and Dumbledore. And we'll be there soon enough. So stop worrying about her for once. Come play me in a game of chess after I beat Prongs." James gave Sirius an annoyed glance.

"I _know_," replied Remus, also annoyed with his friend. _Should I tell them?_

Peter spoke up. "Moony, we're your best friends. You can tell us what you're thinking and how you're feeling. We're not going to laugh at you," he assured him.

Remus watched his friends from a long while. _These guys are my best friends. I should be able to tell them anything. I haven't been very straightforward about other girls mostly because I didn't want them to tease me. But things with Beth are different. I know they wouldn't tease me. And they'd probably be happy for me._ He took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay, I love her."

Silence ensued. "You love her?" echoed James.

"Yes, like you love Lily Evans."

James blushed, caught off guard at the subject of the redhead being brought up so suddenly. "Okay, I may love her, but I've also known her for 6 years. I know all the silly little things about her. I know what makes her tick. You…You just met Beth. Don't get me wrong, she's a great girl, but there's still so much you don't know about her. I mean you…"

Sirius interrupted him. "I'm happy for you, Moony." He turned to face James. "Prongs, you started liking Lily because of the way her hair flipped when she walked."

"I did not!" protested James. A lull in the conversation began but was broken by the messy-haired boy. "Anyway, we still don't know why Voldemort wants Beth. She could be one his relatives for all we know!"

"Don't be stupid, James." Sirius rolled his eyes. "The Spensers are…"


	13. Nothing Will Ever Be The Same

A/N: Sorry I know a lot you won't be happy with me after this chapter.

Chapter 13 Nothing Will Ever Be The Same

Sirius stopped. He, himself, seemed to be contemplating what he was about to tell them.

"They're what, Padfoot?" James stated impatiently.

"The Spensers are descendants of Merlin himself." The other Marauders stared.

"How do you know that?" asked Peter in awe.

"I heard my old man talking one day during Christmas," Sirius replied nonchalantly.

"Why didn't you say something before?" wondered Remus.

Sirius shrugged. "Like I ever usually listen to what my parents have to say. And I just remembered that he said that."

James whistled. "Wow, descendant of Merlin."

"So something could be going on with her." Remus sat back down next to Sirius.

James put down his card set. "Possibly, but what I still don't understand is why her family had her powers bound, if she's got some potential for being a powerful witch?"

"Most likely not the whole family wanted that. I'm guessing from what I've heard Beth say, that it wasn't her grandparents, but her parents, a Squib and a Muggle, who had it done," answered Remus.

"Yeah but wouldn't her grandparents have tried to stop them?" Peter joined in.

"Not if they didn't know until it was already done," put in Sirius. He put down his portion of the Exploding Snap cards.

James held a confused look on his face. "Surely they would have convinced them that this wasn't the right thing to do for Beth."

"I would hope that they would have tried but people can be extremely stubborn when they want to be," Remus looked at Sirius.

"Hey don't look at me like that."

"So why do Beth's powers seem to be fine now?" asked Peter.

"Maybe her grandparents finally got through to her parents and things were reversed before she...wound up at Hogwarts."

"Bloody good timing too." He picked his cards back up ready to continue the game he and James had started.

"Yeah." they all agreed.

Remus put his hands together in thought. "So does everyone agree that there is something special about Beth?" The boys nodded their heads. "And that it would be dangerous for her to fall under the wrong hands?" Nods again. "And that we should..."

Morwenna open the compartment door and stepped in with Dorcas. "You look deep in conversation for once. About anything interesting?"

"We've been discussing a very important topic and came up with some enlightening conclusions."

"Oh do share..." The girls sat down and the Marauders recounted the details.

**  
The Marauders and Dorcas as well as Morwenna disembarked from the train not long after, Remus leading them as he was anxious to see Beth. The night was rather rainy and cold, causing the students returning from home to pull their cloaks around them for warmth.

As soon as they had arrived at the castle, Remus jumped out of the carriage silently and rushed up the steps and through the massive oak doors. He made his way straight to the Great Hall where he knew the other girls would be for the return feast.

When he saw Beth talking to Lily and Alice, he practically ran to her side with the other Gryffindors trying to keep up with him. "Hello, Beth. Good to see you again." He smiled with relief.

"Hi, you know it hasn't been but 24 hours since the last time you saw me." She gave him a slight smile.

"Yeah I know. I was just…worried about you, that's all." He sat down next to her and was joined by the Marauders, while Dorcas and Morwenna parked themselves with Lily and Alice who were across from Beth.

"So how are all of you?" Sirius asked with concern.

"Oh we're all right," replied Alice. "Beth's still a bit shaken up though. Of course I would be too." Everyone else expressed their own concerns about the tiny Gryffindor girl.

"Thanks guys, I…" Remus put his arm around about Beth. "appreciate all you've done for me." A single tear rolled down her cheek. "You didn't have to."

"Oh! But we wanted to," insisted James. He dug into the meal before them piling food onto his plate.

"Yeah and we have some good news for you." Sirius told her excitedly. He too put monstrous portions of food on his plate.

Morwenna gave a disgusted look at the two boys who were pigging out. "I wouldn't really call it good news, Sirius, but definitely interesting."

Beth looked up curious. "Well what is it then?"

"It seems that you are the descendant of Merlin." Sirius told her in between bites.

A look of alarm and surprise came over Beth. "I am?" The boys along with Morwenna and Dorcas nodded. "But what does that mean?"

Lily spoke up. "Perhaps you should do some research on him. It might give you a clue as to what powers you could possess that might be important in the wizard world."

"Okay you're right. I'll go to the library after classes."

**  
Later in the library, Beth pulled out all the books she could find on Merlin with Madame Pince's help, of course. The first one she picked up was titled _A Detailed History of the Most Powerful Witches and Wizards in the Last Millennium_. She found where Merlin was talked about and began reading.

_It has been rumoured that Merlin was able to travel far and wide and perhaps even across time and space…_

Beth read this sentence over and over again. _Time and space, hmm. Could that be it? If Merlin could do that, wouldn't his descendants be able to as well? Is that why He'd want…Merlin, I'm in trouble._ She kept reading more not realizing that Remus had entered the library until he said, 'Hey, Beth.'

She jumped and closed the book reflexively. "Hello, you scared me." She smiled uneasily, beginning to gather up the books she had found.

"Sorry I didn't mean to. Have you found anything yet?"

"Uh no, not yet I haven't, but I think I'll take this book with me." She picked up _A Detailed History_ in her hands and put it in her bag. Then she left the library with Remus to go back to the Gryffindor tower until her Potions lesson with Severus that night.

While Beth was in the dungeons for Potions lessons, the rest of the Gryffindor students were in the common room talking quietly together.

"We don't have that much time. We need to figure out what we're going to do," whispered Alice.

Sirius scoffed at her. "We have plenty of time. It's not until the Quidditch final anyway. We should have her birthday party during the Quidditch Cup victory party."

"And Sirius," Lily challenged him, "what if you don't win the Cup?"

James looked rather scandalized at Lily's insinuation. "Lily, of course we'll win!"

"However if we don't," interrupted Dorcas, who was a bit more level-headed about the whole thing, "we can have a private party for her in the Room of Requirement."

Both Sirius and James gave her more scandalous looks, but they continued with the rest of the party plans until Beth returned later that night.

**  
May opened with frantic 5th years trying to study for their OWLs in the coming month, but also good weather came and more people began to go outside. The Marauders, namely James and Sirius, had begged Beth to go and get some fresh air, but she seemed more interested than ever in studying for the coming exam that Dumbledore himself would give her.

Tension was building with the exams and also the Quidditch final. The match would be between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. James, Dorcas, and Sirius had been practicing nearly every night to make sure they were ready. When the day arrived, Beth, Remus, Alice, Peter, and Lily climbed the stairs to the stands to get good enough seats to see what was going on. Later on the stands looked as if they were almost filled to capacity. The Gryffindors cheered for their team as loud as they could, especially when the team flew out and around the pitch.

The players from both teams got into their positions, and Madame Hooch blew the whistle to signify the start of the game while throwing the Quaffle in the air. Dorcas was the first one to the red ball and made a loop around toward the other end of the pitch.

"Meadowes has the Quaffle. She passes to Potter. Oh, looks like Davies steals it from them and takes it toward the goal posts. A bludger from Sirius Black but Davies dodges it. Potter flies up along side the Ravenclaw captain to try to steal. Oh bloody hell, looks like one of Davies' own beater hits the bludger toward him while trying to hit Potter. Davies drops the Quaffle and it's picked up by 7th year and Head Boy, Frank Longbottom."

The game continued in this sort of fashion for quite awhile until Dorcas threw a reverse pass back to Frank who scored into the left goal post by faking out the Ravenclaw keeper. After an hour's time, the Gryffindors were surprisingly behind, 70-50.

What had started out as a clear and sunny day quickly became cloudy and then dark and threatening to downpour within a matter of another hour. It was very difficult to see the players now but that didn't dampen the Gryffindors or any other students' spirits. Soon it was so dark it seemed almost like night except for where you could sort tell where the sun should be. When they had seemingly lost track of the players entirely, they heard Ty Jordan yelling into the magical megaphone that Gryffindor had indeed won because their seeker, Brown, had caught the snitch bringing the final score to 200-130.

Beth followed Remus and the other Gryffindors carefully down the wet stairs and onto the pitch where they were able to hug and congratulate their ecstatic if somewhat soaked Quidditch team. It had been a long time since Beth herself had been outside of the castle and though she hugged her friends (or it was rather that they brought her into a bone crushing hug), she kept looking around nervously. It was obvious that she didn't feel comfortable. They only stayed a maximum of 10 minutes and then ran inside to get changed and celebrate the Gryffindor victory.

**  
The Gryffindor common room was a quite a sight to see with all the decorations and food and music. Once everyone had been able to get together, James and Sirius bent down into Beth's ears. "We have something to show you." They brought her within sight of the victory banner and waved their wands. Below the banner appeared another one reading, 'Happy Birthday, Beth!'

The tiny Gryffindor was surprised to say the least. "You remembered?" she said half in question, half in awe of what they had done for her. She was even more surprised at the presents to the left of the banner. A whole two desks put together filled with gifts for her from all of her housemates, some she knew very well and others were good acquaintances.

"I can't believe you did all this for me," remarked Beth later on after the party was over and she was having a second piece of chocolate birthday cake.

"We wanted you to have some time to take a break and enjoy the day and get your mind off of those finals."

"Yes, well I have a feeling that I'll do just fine."

"Doesn't seem like it with the way you've been avoiding doing anything fun."

"That's not true, I take small breaks to chat or play a game of Exploding Snap once in while."

"Btjoodn'twntgotsd." It was all jumbled together but Beth understood what Peter had innocently but stupidly mentioned. Alice elbowed him, which caused him to go into a coughing fit over the cake he had been eating.

Beth didn't answer but stayed quiet and finished her cake. She just wanted to be careful to make sure she was safe. After what had happened last month, she didn't know what could happen next. Everything seemed to be escalating. She was so deep in thought about so many things she hardly noticed when everyone said good night to her, leaving her alone with Remus watching her intently.

"You've been awfully quiet tonight. Anything you want to talk about?" She looked up feeling his hand on hers. Deep concern was etched in his face and worry was evident in his eyes.

"Nothing, I just want to do well on my exams." Remus knew that she had to be lying. Earlier in the evening she had said she wasn't worried about them.

"Now you know I'm not that easy to blow off. You can tell whatever you have on your mind."

"It won't change anything that's happened. I'll still be scared for my life. What's going to happen when Hogwarts is out for summer holidays? What if someone finds me wherever I am? I don't want to die."

Remus understood her fear. "You'll be okay. Your family will be there to protect you in the summer. And we're here to protect you at Hogwarts. The grounds are safe. As long as you don't wander outside of them you'll be fine." He pulled out a small box and handed it to her. "I wanted to give this to you…without other people around."

She opened the gift. It was a sculpture of a boy and a girl dancing. They looked exactly like the pair of them and when she held it out in her hand, it began to rise in the air just like they had that night in the Room of Requirement. Confusion was on her face at first, which dawned into surprise and delight. "Wow this must have taken a long time to do. Wow, I don't know what to say. Thank you." She hesitated before giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I-I'll keep it with me always. Goodnight, R-Remus."

Beth left Remus sitting on the couch in the common room with the fire close to its dimmest. Everything had happened so fast he hadn't had time to react. She had vacated the room without so much of a glance. He had been hoping to remedy the fact that he hadn't kissed her yet. He hadn't been expecting that to be her reaction. It was certainly odd. Perhaps he had underestimated how much this Voldemort situation had been affecting Beth. When she first came to Hogwarts, she was shy and unsure almost afraid of everything. But she had slowly grown out of it and was as brave as any one of the other Gryffindors, even more than Peter. Now it was like she was back at square one. He wasn't sure how to bring her out of it, how to reassure her enough. He wasn't sure he could do that and that bothered him to no end.

**  
A few weeks past and Remus had let the situation between him and Beth go. She was still studying hard but appeared to be in better spirits. James and Sirius seemed to be able to get through to her humourous side and often had her at least giggling at their jokes.

Her happy side didn't last long however. Just days before exams started, the Daily Prophet arrived at breakfast. More deaths were being reported but one in particular caught Lily Evans. She gasped. "What is it?" Everyone asked. She was too shocked to say anything but Sirius took it out of her hands and began to read.

_Daily Prophet reports death of known Hogwarts professor. Body of Professor C. Griggs was found near her home this past Monday night. The Care of Magical Creatures teacher had been reported missing since January. Cause of death would not be revealed at this time. A full investigation is being made to explain what happened during and after her disappearance._

"WHAT?" Beth couldn't believe her ears. "That's horrible. I-I think I'm going to be sick." She got up and ran out of the Great Hall. The others looked at one another with wide eyes. They were sure that Dumbledore would have found the Care of Magical Creatures teacher even if he didn't announce it to the rest of the student body.

**  
After that morning, the Marauders and girl tired to cheer Beth up but to no avail. She blamed herself for the Professor's capture and death. She felt that if she had only allowed them to capture her during the attack or accepted Voldemort's proposal, everything would be fine. Her friends did their best to convince her otherwise, but she seemed beyond comfort about the whole situation.

It wasn't until after exams and a talk with Professor Dumbledore that she began to come around. As a way to get her mind off things the Gryffindors, namely James and Sirius, decided what she needed was a ride on a broomstick. She flat out refused at first but they were "convincing little buggers" and she conceded.

They all walked down to the pitch while the Quidditch players brought extra brooms out of the shed. Beth, who had never flown before insisted on riding with someone else. Peter, who was never good with a broom rode with Sirius. Lily didn't want to ride with James but it seemed she was stuck since none of the other school brooms could quite handle two people.

Alice got on the back of Frank Longbottom's broom, and Dorcas as well as Morwenna flew solo. Remus directed Beth on how to mount the broom and where she should hold onto. She looked nervous but he didn't know if that was the flying in so much as the windy conditions. _A storm could be brewing_, thought Remus. He took off slowly into the air so that Beth could get used to flying. A scream from above indicated that James had taken off quite suddenly, leaving Lily holding onto him for dear life. "Slow down, James!"

Once they got up into the air, turbulence seemed to be evident. Beth herself was holding so tightly that Remus could feel her nails start to dig into him. He turned his head. "Relax, I won't let you fall off." She nodded stiffly and tried not to hold so tightly.

All the girls with riders, even Lily, admitted to at least a little fun by the end. "I'm starving, let's go in for lunch." Just as Sirius finished the last word a spell flew by him. Everyone looked over to find 15-20 cloaked figures on brooms nearing them. "They're coming for me." Remus heard Beth say almost breathlessly. His heart began to beat like crazy as the adrenaline pumped.

He had to get Beth safely to the castle. "Remus get Beth out of here, we'll fight them off!" James shouted.

There were more of them than students. Sirius, James, Lily, Frank, Alice, Morwenna, and Dorcas desperately shot spells to keep the death eaters at bay. They were doing a fair job of it. But in any situation where the offense outnumbers and is more experienced than the defense someone is bound to get through. The spell came from seemingly nowhere. Remus and Beth were about to touch down near the castle oak front doors. The blast came from behind completely obliterating the broom, and Remus was thrown forward. The force of the spell and hitting the ground caused him to lose consciousness. He tried to call out for Beth but the darkness came too quickly.


	14. Why?

**Chapter 14 Why?**

_**Like a movie played over and over, Remus saw the horror repeated even in his unconscious state. The cool wind pushing against the broom as they were almost to the castle. The sight of spells flying past their heads. The smell of Beth's shampoo wafting to his nose. The touch, the last touch of her skin against his arm. The distant shouting and then a force so strong it knocked both of them onto the ground hitting their heads. Not that it mattered for Beth. She was dead long before the impact of her lifeless body on the grass. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump…**_

"Do you think he'll ever wake up?"

"Of course, Pete, Remus is a fighter." Pained moans told his friends that perhaps finally after a week in the infirmary, Remus was finally waking up. He sat straight up in bed yelling her name. Pain shot through the back of head and he felt dizzy. He lay back down to quell the feelings of dizziness and nausea. The vision of his friends crowding around the hospital bed came into view. No one knew what to say. Remus didn't need to say anything. The expressions on their faces said everything and more. There was nothing to say. He closed his eyes again. She was gone, a great friend that had come into their lives so quickly and had left just the same. To Remus she had been more. What made him sadder than her passing was that he had never told her all the things he wanted to say to her, had never taken her in his arms and kissed her with all the passion he felt inside for her. He had always said, 'I'll do it tomorrow.' Well now there never would be a tomorrow. _Why? Why did they have to kill her?_

**  
The school year finished soon after. Everyone went to their respective homes. Sirius stayed with the Potters for a short while until he bought a house with the money his Uncle Alphard left him. James, Sirius, Peter, and the girls made sure that Remus didn't have any down time. The Marauders especially knew him well enough to know what he would do if left alone to think about recent events.

And while they were busy with summer fun and cheering up Remus, somewhere in a dark, dank, musty old room inhabited a young girl coughing from the dusty air. She was dressed in whatever came from the only furniture in the room, a cedar chest. She had been dumped on a dust mite-filled mattress with only her underclothes. She wondered why she was here. No one had come back to even feed her. Food magically appeared once a day. She had not even had a shower since her arrival in this strange place. What did they want with her? Why were they keeping her here? Days passed, weeks, perhaps even a month or two; she couldn't tell. It was like time stood still in this place.

Standing up from the make-shift bed, she walked around for the hundredth time. She was incredibly bored, but she needed to keep up her strength to escape. People would be looking for her and if she found the right moment she might be able to escape this place and find her rescuers. Shouldn't she be scared you might ask? She had been through enough in her life in the past year that there was not much more that could frighten or even surprise her. She knew how to fight. If they wanted to kill her, there wasn't much she could do, but she had a feeling there was a reason she was being held captive and killing her would certainly be counterproductive. The hardest thing about staying in the room was she was alone to her thoughts. As the days passed it was becoming more and more difficult not to think of her friends and what they must think. Did they even know she was missing? Surely they would look for her? The possibility that her captors had ensured that would never happen had never crossed her mind. She focused on escape; the moment the door opened she would get through it somehow.

Finally, when she could hardly stand herself any longer, the door opened. As promised she started right for the door but stopped suddenly held back by a magical force. Lucius Malfoy entered tsking at the girl. "Did you really think escape would be that easy? Or perhaps you didn't think things through. Understandable given your state of being," he made a disgusted face at the smell, "but that can easily be remedied if…you cooperate."

"I'm done cooperating with you. I should have never let you even get near me…proposition my arse. Besides, my friends will find me."

Malfoy chortled. "I do have a proposition for you, Elizabeth. And we have made sure that your friends finding you was not an option."

Beth's nostrils flared. "You better not have harmed my friends."

"No, no. Not yet anyway. And there will be no need if…you cooperate."

"You'll have to kill me first. You may have found a way to take me prisoner, but I promise I will escape. And my friends will be looking for me." She was so angry at him and her predicament that she wanted to spit in his face.

"I already told you, Elizabeth; your friends will not be looking for you. You think you're so special to them? I promise you, they've already gone on with their lives." He knew he wasn't getting anywhere with her, that he wouldn't be able to reason with her in this state. But perhaps if someone that she trusted were here to give her incentive. Lucius turned on his heal and left without another word.

Elizabeth rushed to the closing door, but it was too late. "No! You can't keep me here!" she screamed in frustration. How would she ever get out?

**  
Lucius had owled Severus to meet him at his house to discuss important matters. He had been surprised because there had been no contact from him since he had sent the letter about Elizabeth visiting Hogsmeade months ago. It had been a sad few months. Severus hung his head. He remembered that day well. Dumbledore had announced at dinner that she had been killed by a group of Death Eaters that had invaded the Quidditch pitch that afternoon. After that no one was allowed outside without at least one teacher escort. He had attended the funeral of course. He didn't really consider her a friend but she had been more than an acquaintance. She had always been extremely kind to him.

The funeral had been quite an ordeal with lots of tears shed. Severus tried to remain as stoic as possible. It was difficult seeing Lily cry. He knew she cared very much about her dead friend. As he was leaving, he tried to talk to Lily to patch things up with her, but Potter was always close by like he was stalking her. It hadn't gone well.

_**Flashback**_

_** "Lily," he said her name softly. "A word, please."**_

_** Lily nodded and her friends walked ahead. "I wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss. Elizabeth was a nice girl. I enjoyed helping her learn about potions. I'm also sorry about all the bad things that have happened between us. Let's start over?"**_

_** The redhead pondered his statements. "I don't know, Severus. I was really hurt by the way you acted."**_

_** "I know I was out of line. I apologize, Lily. I was horrible to you and I let my anger get the better of me. Please forgive me."**_

_** She looked into his eyes and saw how sincere he was. "Okay, Severus, I forgive you." She gave a small smile and left to catch up with her friends. **_

_** Severus had a moment of elation before…**_

_** "Oi, Snivellus. What are you doing?" James caught up to him quickly. "You stay away from Lily, Snape. Or else…"**_

_** "Or else what, Potter? As much as you don't like it, Lily and I are friends. We have been since before you even met her. You don't have a claim on her."**_

_** Severus could tell James was doing all he could not to hex him right there. The Gryffindor was looking over the Slytherin's shoulder at Lily, who was going toward the entrance to the school. **_

"_**I'm just trying to protect her from someone like you. I don't trust you Snape. I may have saved your life, but that was for Remus' sake, not yours. I'm watching you like a hawk. I know you had something to do with Beth's death. Something doesn't seem right about it. How would the death eaters have known her movements if there wasn't someone on the inside feeding them information? You certainly had enough access to her to gain her trust. She trusted you too easily. I promise I will find out what happened. When I do and if you're involved, Lily will know; she will know what type of person you really are. I'll make sure of that."**_

Ever since that moment, Severus had been feeling extremely guilty. Before he had tried not to think about it, but Potter had brought it to the forefront of his mind. Had he really been responsible for her death? The last update he had given them was the secret trip to Hogsmeade. She had returned fine after that. Or had she? He noticed that she was very cautious and nervous even the last day he had tutored her. Then she was gone.

And now Lucius was contacting him again. He had done him a favor. He had considered himself done with Lucius and his favors. _What could he possibly want now?_

Lucius met Severus outside his house when he arrived. "Ah good you made it. I'll skip the pleasantries if you don't mind and be straight forward with you, old friend. Our destination today is an old mansion. Come with me and we'll discuss more."

Severus hesitated. He didn't owe Lucius anything. "I promise I'll make it worth your while." He appealed tp Severus' emotions. "Actually, I think it is your responsibility now that you're involved, Severus."

"Involved?"

"Normally, the Dark Lord doesn't like to get his hands dirty with Hogwarts students, but He understands that he needs to make an exception this time. I've told him how useful you can be to him. Also, it was your information that led to the capture of Elizabeth Spenser."

Severus choked on the air, barely able to get a sentence out. "She's alive?"

"Yes, she's alive and waiting for someone to rescue her. You can come and save the day, be her knight in shining armor."

"What's the catch?" Severus asked suspiciously.

"She's being…less than agreeable. The Dark Lord needs her for his plan. It's your job to convince her that her cooperation will be the best thing for her."

"And why should I care?"

"Well, on the one hand, you'd look like the hero for bringing her home safe and sound to her friends. On the other hand…you could find yourself in Azkaban for…well who knows, accessory to murder, murder itself?" Lucius handed him a piece of paper. "Apparate to that address if you want to make the correct choice." He was gone with a pop.

_A choice? What choice did I have really? _He was regretting ever getting involved. Lucius had made everything seem so harmless. Severus thought of Lily and her tears at Elizabeth's funeral. _If I could bring her home safe, Lily would think the world of me. I would be Lily's hero. _Severus took a deep breath and apparated.

**  
Severus rubbed his sore left forearm. He had to hand it to the Dark Lord and his followers. They certainly knew how to reel people into their plans. After he had apparated to the place where Beth was being held captive, Severus was forced to swear allegiance to the Dark Lord and branded with the Dark Mark. He knew he had made the biggest mistake of his life, but it was done now. From this point forward, he vowed to keep his emotions in check and get himself out of this mess anyway he could.

He walked down the long hall to the room where Lucius had said Elizabeth was being held. What could he possibly say to convince her? He thought of a plan before he reached the door. He unlocked the door and walked through to find Elizabeth asleep on a mattress. He stopped for a second. It was hard to believe he was seeing her there in front of him. He wondered how Voldemort and the death eaters had fooled everyone into thinking she was dead.

The girl in the room stirred, opening her eyes to look at him, and sat up quickly, trying to cover herself from Severus' gaze. "Severus, is that really you?" She frowned as if she wasn't sure if she were dreaming.

"Yes, Elizabeth, it's me." He went to her and sat down on the mattress. "I was finally able to find you." He awkwardly pulled her close and whispered in her ear. "I'm here to help. I'm here for you."

"Oh Severus, thank you." Elizabeth began to sob uncontrollably and hugged him tightly. The 17 year old Slytherin was uncomfortable, but he knew it would help her trust him. He put his hand on her head and brushed her hair from her face. "Oh Severus, I thought everyone had given up on searching for me. I'm glad you're here. Please help me get out of here."

_She doesn't know that everyone thinks she's dead._ He slowly worded his answer. "It's something we'll have to work on together with careful planning. Okay, Elizabeth? It won't be easy, but we can do it. You have to promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"No more crying. If we're going to get out of here, we have to pretend we're happy. My promise to you is that we'll get through this no matter what happens, okay?"

She nodded her head and hugged him. I_s this what it will feel like to hold Lily once she knows what a hero I am? _He relished in the thought. "Now I need you to get rest because tomorrow is going to be a big day. Go to sleep, and I'll see you in the morning." He tucked her in and left the room.

**  
Beth wasn't able to fall asleep right away. She couldn't believe that someone was there to rescue her. Of course she had wished it had been Remus, but she had been glad to see Severus, since he was a friend to her. _But doesn't it seem odd that Severus is here? How did he find me? They just let him waltz in here? Something seems off, but I don't know what. _She thought back to when she was speaking to Remus about Severus. _**"Yeah, he's my friend, and I trust him."**_

Beth woke up to find Severus already sitting next to her bed. She jumped when she turned over. "Severus, you scared me. Is it morning already?"

"Not quite yet, but I need you to get up so we can be ready for training."

"Training? For what?" she asked as she followed him down the hall.

"Training in the Dark Arts."

"What? Severus, no, I won't do it." She stopped in the hall.

Severus leaned in close at a whisper. "Elizabeth, I told you this won't be easy. We may have to do some things that we don't want to. Please work together with me."

Beth shivered, Severus' breath tickling the hairs on her neck. She knew she didn't have a choice but to trust him, no matter what her doubts were.

He led her to a small bathroom near her room. "There's a shower and a change of robes. I need you back out here in 20 minutes."

When Beth walked into the dingy bathroom, she didn't expect much but was grateful when the water from the pipes was warm enough to take the chill out of her. She quickly put on the plain black robes left for her. "I'm ready, Severus." She stepped out of the bathroom, looking and smelling much cleaner.

"Let's go then." They moved to a dining room where an array of breakfast foods was set out for them. Beth was hesitant to eat, but she knew she would need her strength if she had to learn about the Dark Arts.

"What are we going to do first, Severus?" She asked as she dug into the food.

"Every morning we'll practice dueling for at least 3 hours. Lunch after that and then lessons until dinner. Then I will leave you to rest in your room at night."

Beth had so many questions. "Dueling? I have no idea how to duel. Why are we learning the Dark Arts, Severus? Why does Voldemort want me?"

Severus tried hard to answer all her questions though he didn't have all the answers himself. "It's very important to learn how to duel, Elizabeth. You may have to fight against other people. I want to make sure that you know about the Dark Arts so that you can dodge the spells and curses." He thought about her last question. "I-I don't know yet what the Dark Lord wants with you," he said truthfully.

After breakfast, Severus spent time showing Beth the ropes of real life dueling, and they practiced for 3 ½ hours. They took showers, ate a quick lunch, and then found the library where they would be studying.

Severus looked around the library for _A Beginners' Guide to the Dark Arts_ and brought it to the table. "Did you learn about the Unforgiveables yet?" Beth shook her head no. He caught a rat scurrying by. "The first is the Imperius Curse." He pointed his wand at the rat. "Imperio." The rat began to dance.

Beth laughed. "What's so unforgivable about that?"

"The curse allows you to have control over a person or creature. I was making it do something amusing. People under the Imperius Curse can be controlled and made to do whatever you want them to do, even horrible things." Beth gulped. "They're called Unforgiveable because the Ministry has outlawed them. You don't want to be caught doing one of these or it's an automatic sentence to Azkaban, the wizard prison."

"The next curse is the Cruciatus, also known as the torture curse. This one you most definitely want to avoid getting hit by it." He raised his wand to perform the curse.

"Severus, please don't." Beth looked like she would be sick.

"Sorry, Elizabeth, but you must see this. You cannot have your first time seeing the Cruciatus be in a dangerous situation. It may immobilize you, leaving you vulnerable to the enemy."

Beth looked at him curiously. "And who exactly is the enemy, Severus?"

Severus studied her for a moment. How much did she trust him? "It is anyone who is against your beliefs."

"Oh, okay." Severus went on to show her the other 2 curses but after the Cruciatus, Beth barely paid attention.

_Anyone who is against my beliefs. And my beliefs are what? Everyone should be treated equally and individually. One person may not hold the same thoughts as the next. No one should be stereotyped. The people who work for Voldemort are all different but most share in the same beliefs possessed by Voldemort, which I certainly do not share in! Remus, Lily, James, Sirius, and my other friends believe the same as me which is respect for all, at least those who deserve it._ She paused in her thoughts. _And what about Severus? What are his beliefs? Does he really want to escape like me?_ She watched him performed the Unforgiveables. _He seems to be enjoying himself. Perhaps this is all a cruel trick for my remaining here. I couldn't bear such a thought._

"Elizabeth, are you listening to me?"

"What? Oh! I'm sorry Severus. I was just thinking about what you said about our enemies. We are on the same page? Voldemort is our enemy."

Severus moved close and put his hand over her mouth. "Elizabeth, you must be quiet. Don't speak the Dark Lord's name or such treason against him." He lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. "He can easily kill us if he wants. Speak no more of this where we can easily be watched and heard." He quickly added, "You have no worries. I feel the same."

Beth relaxed at his last statement. She smiled. "Can we go into something a bit lighter?"

"Of course." He put the dusty dark arts volume to the side and picked up an old potions book. "Let's learn what I know best, shall we?"

**  
Summer passed quickly, and Beth became adequately trained in the dark arts as well as with her own school studies through 6th year. She started off only dueling Severus, but the better she got, other people came to challenge both of them. One day in late August shortly before the start of the school term, Lucius came for a visit while they were studying.

"The Dark Lord has an assignment for you, Elizabeth." The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She would finally be learning why He wanted her.

"Do you know why we attacked your family? Or why the Dark Lord wanted you to join him?" She shook her head. "There are a special group of people known as Time Guardians. Your grandfather, Damon Spenser, was a time guardian, but he passed his powers onto you, his granddaughter. From what we have found from our limited research is that it is a Time Guardian's duty to watch over the timeline and make sure that others don't try to change it, unless that is part of the timeline. The Dark Lord wants to know the future so that he can be prepared for it. Your mission is to visit the future and report back what you have seen."

Beth wanted to refuse immediately. There was no way she wanted to help Voldemort know the future. She looked to Severus, who was shaking his head. He knew what she was thinking. "But I don't even know how to travel through time."

Lucius nodded. "We were prepared in case you didn't know. The scrolls that we found in your cousin's possession have shown us a potion that will help you travel."

Beth held a look of confusion. "My cousin, Dia?"

"No, your cousin, Professor Celia Griggs. By marriage of course."

The Time Guardian's eyes were wide with surprise. _I have a family album, how did I not notice that Professor Griggs and also Marcia are my cousins? That's explains why Dia went to live with them._ Beth sighed inwardly. _What have I been doing all this time? I was so worried about what other people thought of me that I didn't take the time to really look into why things were happening the way they were. I took so much care into retrieving that mysterious book from my grandparents' vault, and then what did I do with it? Absolutely nothing!_ She knew in her heart that the book was the key to learning out how to become a Time Guardian. At least it was safe at Hogwarts. Once she escaped, she promised herself she would retrieve it and fulfill her destiny.

"Severus' mission was to help you with your studies and brew this potion. He will be going back to Hogwarts while you travel into the future."

**  
It seemed like once Beth knew that she was a Time Guardian, everything began to make sense about her dreams. As she slept some of it was obviously dreams. She thought back to her dreams and realized the difference between her dreams and when she was having visions. And this night she was very clearly having a vision.

_**She was in a room with Lucius, Severus, and someone whom she could only assume was Voldemort. **_

"_**Lucius give me your arm." Voldemort hissed. Lucius pulled up his robe to his elbow, revealing what looked like an intricate tattoo of a snake coming out of the mouth of a skull. Voldemort put his wand to the tattoo. Instantly, many people dressed in black robes and masks appeared, much like the ones Beth had seen when her family was attacked. As the scene moved on, it seemed like a ritual was taking place with Voldemort and Severus in the middle. What was happening?**_

_**Beth watched in horror as Severus pulled up the sleeve on his left arm. "No, Severus, don't!" Her pleas were made in vain, as she quickly realized no one could see or hear her. She watched with tears in her eyes as Severus received what later Beth would come to know as the Dark Mark. Even more horrifying were his actions. She couldn't tell anymore whether Severus was a friend or enemy. **_

_**So many thoughts and emotions were blasting through the 17 year old Gryffindor. Was he the friend who had helped with her studies and risked his life to save her? Or was he the enemy who had tricked her into doing what Voldemort wanted her to do?**_


	15. The Future

Chapter 15 The Future

Beth reluctantly drank the potion that Severus had made. She certainly trusted that he made the potion correctly but not his intentions. She knew any moment she would be going into the future. With a flash the room and Lucius disappeared from sight to be replaced by darkness. _Where am I?_ As Beth's eyes adjusted, she noticed there was ethereal light coming from all around her. She felt as if she were on the outside of a water tank and light shining from somewhere was causing the glow.

The Time Guardian looked around some more and behind her found a wooden stand holding a book. It was just like the one she had recovered from her grandparents' vault at Gringotts. She rushed to it, hungry for the knowledge it held. It was still in an ancient language she couldn't read, but somehow she instinctively knew what it said. She read for hours but it all seemed like minutes. She learned the incantations that would allow her to travel through time, the way to access the dark place she was in, and how to meditate so that she could sense when something was amiss on the time continuum.

A sudden idea popped into her head. _Perhaps I don't even have to leave this place to find out the future._ Sitting on the floor, she closed her eyes to meditate where she could see visions of the past, present, and future. She didn't get far as her stomach began to growl. _I'm not going to get any food here. I can't go back to Voldemort_. This thought surprised her. For the first time she realized she was free. She would never have to go back there if she didn't want to. She smiled and verbalized the incantation to travel to…anywhere she wanted.

**  
Beth found herself in a yard with a huge house on a hill. A light flicked on in the house. Had she been seen? A few minutes later Remus, James, Sirius, and Peter appeared at the back door. "Remus," she whispered in surprise.

"I heard something over there." Remus pointed in Beth's direction.

_Oh Merlin, he heard me!_ The boys moved closer to where she was. The closer they became the move evident it became that they couldn't see her. She was in clear view of them so she had to be invisible but any noise she made they could hear. And she certainly couldn't get out of there. She was stuck. Hopefully they wouldn't stick around long.

"I don't hear or see anything mate," Sirius remarked to his friend.

"Maybe you were having a strange dream and you thought you saw something outside," Peter added.

James was as suspicious as Remus, but for a different reason. He had meant what he said to Snape. He could feel deep down that something was wrong with the way the school year ended. He was waiting for something else to go down. For now he kept his thoughts to himself.

"Perhaps you're right, Wormtail, but I could have sworn I heard someone whisper my name when we stepped outside. It sounded like…" Remus shook his head, "Nevermind, I must have been hearing things. It was probably the wind."

James put his arm around his werewolf friend's shoulder. "Come on Moony, you need rest. The full moon will be here in a few days." The four boys walked back inside.

Beth exhaled the breath she didn't realize she was holding. _Phew, that was close._ _I better not leave the way I came._ She walked a ways till she came to a road that led to a place that looked like a restaurant. She was glad that as much as Voldemort hated Muggles, he had at least made sure she was prepared with Muggle money for her travels.

But then she remembered she was invisible. How would she be able to get food? She sat down on the grass to meditate. Perhaps she would remember a way from the book to make herself visible to others without having to go back to her "home base."

In her mind, she turned the pages on the book. Then she remembered the incantation. She held up her wand but stopped. She could hear something in the grass. Beth got up and moved away from the noise before performing the incantation. She slowly became visible. As she walked to the restaurant, she heard a squeak behind her. Thinking nothing of it she continued her growling stomach leading her to food.  
**

Wormtail waited for Beth to come out of the restaurant so that he could keep following her. He could hardly believe his eyes and ears. She wasn't dead! But he was confused. They had all seen her die. Who was he following around then? Was it the real Beth? Was she an imposter? What was her plan? Had she fooled them all by faking her death? He could feel his fear rising as he thought about the possibility that some darker forces were at play.

The rat watched as she left the building and came back his way toward the group of trees that led back to Prongs' house. He thought she was going to go back there, but instead she stopped in the middle of some trees and sat down to meditate. She remained there awhile and he thought that he wasn't going to get much to tell his friends except that either Beth was alive or someone was walking around pretending to be her. But then she began to talk to herself.

"Where do I even begin? What does Voldmort want to know exactly?" Wormtail's rat stood up straight on his back and his ears were at attention. "Does he want to know if he reigns supreme in the future? Does he want to know about potential threats of defeat? He wants me to go and find out about the future, but how much can I really tell him without breaking the rules of being a Time Guardian? The sun will rise soon. I'd better not stay here." She sighed, got up, and looked toward Prongs' house before she walked deeper into the trees and disappeared with a flash.

And in that moment, Wormtail knew that she was the real Beth. Had he not been told that she was the descendant of Merlin himself? But how had she been captured and not killed? As he made his way back to the house, he feared the vast greatness of Voldemort's power. What would happen if he told his friends? _Surely they'll try to rescue Beth and be killed. And what if You-know-Who finds out that I know_?_I'd be a dead rat. It would be safer to keep quiet. What my friends don't know won't hurt them._

**  
Beth had returned to the dark place. She needed to have more visions about the future before she knew where to go. The more thought she gave to getting information from only her visions, she realized that the idea simply wouldn't work, as much as she hated the idea that she would have to travel to the future and interact there. She didn't want to chance making changes to the time continuum being that she was still new to her responsibilities.

The thought of going back unprepared was what prompted her to decide that she needed to find someone who could help her prepare to face Voldemort once she went back to her own time. The visions gave her an idea of where to start. She took a deep breath and said the incantation, taking her to the year 1996 and to the only place she knew to be safe…Hogwarts.

The Time Guardian appeared behind the Shrieking Shack where she could not be seen. _How ironic_, she thought. She made sure she was invisible and then started toward Honeydukes, the sweet shop. When she was sure no one was looking, she slipped down to the cellar and through the passageway to Hogwarts. As she walked, she thought of what she would say to a very adult Severus. She smiled remembering that he had said something about wanting to be a teacher one day.

It was during Christmas break, so there were no worries of running into any students. She pushed open the door to his office.

"Who's there?" Severus stood with his wand out.

Even though she had seen him in her vision, seeing an older Severus was still surprising. "It is a friend," Beth remarked becoming visible to him.

Alarmed and eyes wide, the Potions Master managed to close and seal his door with his wand. No one could know she was here. "Elizabeth, what are you doing _here_?" She hadn't changed one bit since he had last seen her after graduation. Then again that was probably because she was the same age as the girl standing before him now. He walked closer to her.

"Severus, I need your help, and I know you can help me. I need to learn Occulmency because I'm not sure I'll be able to go back to…my own time. In my visions, I've seen that you've learned how to protect yourself, please help me too."

"I want to Elizabeth, but…I don't know." He seemed unsure.

"I promise that it's okay that you teach me. It's not changing the time continuum or anything dangerous like that. I need to know it so I can face V…" he put a hand up to silence her. "What's wrong?"

The Potions Master took her by the arm and lead her to his store room, closing the door most of the way just before they heard a knock on the door. As he opened the door, Beth recognized the male voice that had come for a visit.

"I trust I'm not interrupting anything, Severus?"

"No, headmaster, you need something, sir?"

"I've decided how we should proceed with Harry after the incident. It seems that he and Voldemort have some sort of connection. Up until now Harry has been safe as Voldemort was not aware of the connection, but I'm afraid this has now changed. We need to make sure that Harry's mind is safe, that Voldemort does not try to harm or influence him through their connection."

"We, sir?" Severus didn't like where this was headed.

"Yes, of course. Harry needs to learn Occulmency. I would love to teach him, but I don't think it wise that Voldemort has access to Harry and my interactions. Don't you agree, Severus? Perhaps it would be best if you teach him."

"Professor Dumbledore, I do not think it is a good idea. Potter and I aren't fond of each other."

The headmaster nodded his head in understanding. "If there were another way, Severus, I would do it. Please try." The Potions Master nodded and Dumbledore left.

Beth had so many questions, but she slowly re-entered the room. "Severus, what was that about? Who is Harry? Is he…James' son? Why does he need Occulmency just like I do?"

The Potions Master looked angrily pained at the sound of his old enemy's name. He didn't want to talk about it. He absentmindedly rubbed his left forearm. "Why don't you find it in your visions?" he snapped.

Beth sat down in the chair next to her; her face looking like it had been physically slapped. His outburst and playing with his robes reminded her of the visions of him with Voldemort receiving the Dark Mark. She wondered if she should ask him. She wanted to understand him.

"Please, Severus," she pleaded with him softly, "I need you. There's no need to hide anything from me. I know what you…you've had to become. And I'm sorry."

He waved her off. "It would have happened regardless. If not for you, then for some other reason. So you know I've become a monster?" A tear fell from his sad face.

Beth took his hand in hers. "Help me understand, Severus."

Severus nodded and told her everything.

**  
Beth barely remembered going from the office to the Potions Master's private quarters, where he left her apologizing that he had business to attend to. He promised to teach her Occulmency when he returned.

She laid down on the couch to rest and fell asleep instantly. She felt drained from all that Severus had told her. Her most unfortunate friends; and the worse thing of course was that she could do nothing at all. She woke up a few hours later, or at least it seemed that way.

_** The Time Guardian left the room and was suddenly transported to the Astronomy Tower. She was in time to see the exchange between Dumbledore and a boy who looked like James, then Dumbledore and a boy who reminded her of Lucius, and last watching in horror as Severus killed the Headmaster and then fled. And she understood that after all her friend had been through, there was still much more for him to suffer though.**_

Beth roused out of her vision with tears streaming down her face. She quickly dried them with her sleeve as she heard Severus return.

"Elizabeth, I've brought you something to eat and drink. You'll need your strength before we begin our lessons."

"Thank you." She picked up a goblet to take a drink as she thought about her last vision. "I'm not sure I can do this now, Severus. Perhaps I was too hasty in asking for your help. I just didn't know where else to turn if not you."

"Why the sudden change?"

"Well I know things, things that you shouldn't know. I don't want you to accidentally see what you shouldn't while you're teaching me Occulmency."

The potions master looked thoughtful for a moment. "The trick is to clear your mind of all thoughts and emotions. Perhaps if you find yourself slipping, try to think of memories from your childhood, anything up until the last time you saw me. If you start to see anything that I shouldn't, tell me to stop."

After she finished her meal, Beth followed Severus' instructions to ready herself to be attacked with Legilimency. As much as she tried, she could not prepare herself enough for the force of it or what it would feel like.

First the Marauders' Map came into view but quickly disappeared, then the dark place with ethereal light that Beth as a Time Guardian, and finally the last vision she had where Dumbledore was on the Astronomy Tower talking with a boy…

"Stop, Stop!" Beth yelled, gasping, breathing heavily from the floor. "That was horrific, Severus. That was worse than my cousin Dia's torture. How will I ever…?"

He knew what she was trying to say. "You're doing better than think you are. It's your first time. I didn't expect you to be able to block me on the first try. At least you kept me from seeing too much of each scene."

She nodded still trying to catch her breath. _A good thing too. He almost saw himself killing Professor Dumbledore. I have to try to keep him restrained to my past._ She took deep breaths, making attempts to clear her thoughts and emotions. "I think I'm ready to try again, Severus."

Her parents were looking down at her. She was lying on the grass gazing at the stars. Dia and her torture sessions. The kids at school were playing tricks on her at the Muggle school. Voldemort and his Death Eaters were attacking her family. Her grandfather was being thrown back on the dining table. Voldemort's laugh.

Beth was flat on her back looking up at the Potions Master leaning over her. "That was worse right? I let you see too much. I'm sorry."

"On the contrary, even though you showed me more, you were not only able to keep your thoughts to before you started at Hogwarts but also at the end you started to pin point things you wanted to show me. At least it seemed that way."

The lessons continued in much the same way for the better part of an hour. After a particularly promising bout, Severus stopped and helped up the 17 year old. "No more tonight. You should rest. We'll continue again tomorrow."

"Severus?" He turned toward her. "Is it okay to stay here until I master Occulmency? I mean I know you'll be busy with the term starting and having to teach Harry Occulmency." He held a rather unpleasant expression on his face at the mention of his nemesis' son. "Please don't be too hard on him. He is Lily's son too."

The Potions master's face changed to an unreadable expression. "Elizabeth, don't pretend you know what you're talking about. You've never met him. Potter makes it impossible to be anything but irritated and angry with him. He has his father's arrogance and an unwillingness to follow rules, also like his father."

"Come on Severus, you're what, 36 years old? He's just a kid. Kids, especially boys, always think they know everything. He is Lily's son, take care of him."

He waved her off. "It would look too suspicious if suddenly I treat him differently. Besides I told you, Black is his godfather."

"Yes, I remember." Beth tried to picture Sirius as a godfather, or any type of guardian figure. It was rather difficult; she could only see him as she last saw him. A fun-loving, trouble-making, good-hearted person who was like a brother to her. And Severus had also briefly mentioned Remus. She sighed as she got into the extra bed that had been conjured for her. _What I wouldn't give to see him again._

**  
Beth made good progress over the weekend. It was Monday and Severus' first Occulmency lesson with Harry. The plan was that he would come back and continue his lessons with Beth. She knew that wouldn't be happening when he stormed into the room and didn't even both to close the door. Beth took the time to close the door as Severus paced back and forth in frustration.

"Severus?" she looked at him questioningly. The Potions Master shook his head. "Don't Elizabeth. I don't want to talk about it. I think it would be better if we skipped our lesson tonight. Perhaps every night like tonight." Meaning every night that he had Occulmency lessons with Harry.

Lessons were rather draining so Beth didn't mind skipping some days. After that night, Beth decided that she should fill her days with keeping up her studies. She wanted to be ready. Once she was able to escape from Voldemort, she was confident she could continue her 7th year at Hogwarts.

A couple of months later, Beth was progressing to the point where she could keep Severus from invading her mind most of the time.

He nodded with satisfaction. "The next step is role-playing. I will pretend to be the Dark Lord, asking you about the future. You need to decide what you will tell him and back it up with the appropriate memories from your visions. It is important to be firm and precise in your answers, so that you do not give the Dark Lord reason to be suspicious. I will give you time to prepare yourself before we start this next phase. Let me know when you are ready."  
**

It was the next day when Beth was working on 6th year Charms. She felt unusually bored and restless. It wasn't easy being cooped up in the castle let alone one room. Severus was teaching so there was no one to talk to. Beth let her mind wander to all she had encountered while here at the future Hogwarts. _Harry, I want to meet Harry._ She knew it was dangerous but she couldn't help her sudden desire. She wouldn't actually _meet_ him; she just wanted to see for herself what the son of James and Lily was like.

In a vision she had already seen where she could find him, and she knew how to get there, so all that was left was actually making her way there while invisible. It was unfortunate that the Room of Requirement was almost the furthest it could be from where she was, but Beth made it without any hiccups. No one was there yet, but she knew they would be arriving soon. She thought about the Time Guardian book hiding in the walls, but thought better about getting it, at least at the moment. She found a dark corner and used a protego charm. She knew what the students would be doing in here. She couldn't take the chance that a spell would miss or be deflected and hit her.

Soon students began arriving through the great oak doors in small groups. And then finally Harry and two others, a boy and girl. Beth recognized him immediately. He had the same messy black hair as James as well as his glasses, but his eyes were Lily's. She had to cover her mouth to muffle an audible gasp, although she probably wouldn't have been heard because students had already started practicing.

Beth watched with admiration as she saw both James and Lily in Harry. The way he lead the group was just like his father. And the patience he showed with each person was certainly a trait of Lily's. The Time Guardian was glad that she had come. Harry inspired her to be strong and keep going. He would be brave and fight Voldemort, and she would be brave as well and escape Voldemort's grasp. She was meant to be free. She wasn't anyone's pawn to be used for an advantage over others.

**  
Her little excursion had made her so happy that she had forgotten how late it was. Her stomach did flip-flops when she opened the door to find Severus there waiting for her. Beth gulped and moved into the room. Severus raised his wand and Beth thought he was going to curse her but he slammed the door closed, sealing it. The girl stood there not knowing what to say or even if she should say anything at all. She had never seen Severus look so angry. She didn't like that it was directed at her, but she was to blame. She looked down at the floor.

"I don't think I need to impress upon you how foolish it was to leave this room, Elizabeth. What if you had been seen? What if something had happened? What if the Dark Lord had gotten wind that you were here? I'm sure you realize that he is just as dangerous now as he was when we were younger."

She walked over to the desk in his room where he was sitting. "Yes, Severus, I know. I'm sorry, I know I was wrong. I just needed a little… inspiration to continue. I think I'll be ready for the next step in two days' time." She paused before throwing her arms around the Potions Master's neck. He stiffened under her embrace, but then awkwardly put his arms around her.

Beth yearned for human touch, human affection. She had been spoiled by her parents, grandparents, and friends. Everyone she cared for enjoyed hugs, and now that she was away from her own time, she missed them. Even young Severus had given her hugs, though his reasons may have not been for her benefit per se. She wanted to ask him why he had done it but wasn't sure that she would get a straight answer.

**  
The Time Guardian spent the next two days deep in meditation and her visions. Some she already knew because of what Severus had told her had happened since 1977. For everything else she had to rely on her powers.

And now she knew everything that had been, was now, and would be. She took several more days avoiding Severus' attempts to engage her in the task she said she would be ready for. The only way she knew how was to go to her special place. She relived her visions again and again. She screamed at the unfairness of what had already happened and what was to come. She cried for the loss of everyone she loved and held dear as well as for the innocent lives taken. Most of all she despaired over the loss of her first and at the moment only love, Remus. How could she possibly face Voldemort or even Severus knowing what she knew?

Five days of being secluded passed; Beth returned to eat only when Severus was absent from his quarters. She felt numb from the pain. She realized that she couldn't continue like this, that she had to fulfill her duties. She meditated and cleared her mind of all thoughts and emotions. As if her powers felt her despair, she began to have visions of all the triumphs that the side fighting against Voldemort would experience. It cheered her considerably. She sighed. She knew couldn't spend much more time in the future. It was time to leave Severus and return her own time, to face Voldemort and regain her freedom again.

**  
Beth noticed that Severus was sitting in his quarters at his desk writing when she finally returned and made herself visible to him. His face showed neither surprise nor anger at her being gone. She knew he understood the weight of her responsibility and knowledge. She closed her eyes, sighing. "Ask me what you will."

The Potions master paused wondering if she was really ready. "What year did you travel to?"

"1996."

Severus nodded and continued. "What images would you allow him to see if he uses Legilimency on you at this point?"

Beth hesitated. "I suppose I would show him this room and you to show your loyalty to him."

"I don't think it would be wise to show him you were here. He might ask what you were doing here or why you came here."

"No, I think it's good because he will trust you more. I don't have to show him that this room is at Hogwarts or anything that specific. He only has to know that I came to you for help and that you did your duty to serve him. He doesn't have to know the reason that I came here."

Severus gave a curt but understanding nod and resumed his questioning. "Am I still in power?"

"Yes, and I would show vague images of his triumphs during the first and second wars. I can't allow him to see details."

"Are there any obstacles in my way from achieving my goals?"

Beth hesitated. "Yes. The best things to show him are Dumbledore, and…I don't know. I know not to show him Harry. Perhaps I'll show him a vague image of the prophecy."

"And what if he probes you further about the things you show him?"

"Well, I'll tell him that he will…I…sorry, Severus, I can't say."

"I see," he said looking at her intensely.

"I'm sorry, Severus," she repeated for emphasis, moving closer toward him. "I really feel I'm ready to go back and face him. Thank you so much for all you've done for me. I will never forget you and what you've done for me, for everyone. Lily would appreciate you looking out for Harry. I know you and James never got along, but please take care of Harry the best way you can considering your position. I promise it will not go overlooked. Take care of yourself," she gave him a peck on the cheek, "and do what you have to do." She hugged him tightly. It would be the last time she saw him as an adult, before he killed Professor Dumbledore and he himself died a hero's death.


	16. Back to the Past

A/N: I've updated all the chapters so everything jives more. Just a reminder none of the world or characters belongs to me except Beth, Marcia, Dia, and Professor Griggs. Morwenna belongs to a fanfiction friend of mine, fellytone. Jezzel Serel and James Fisher belong to friends of mine from the RP world. You should be seeing more of them. Enjoy everyone, and please review.

Chapter 16 Back to the Past

With a flash, Beth was back to the mansion she left and back to imprisonment as well. Freedom had felt so refreshing; she was sad to leave it. She knew she had to return, or she would never truly be free from Voldemort.

She smiled as she saw Lucius turn around quickly, wand out, obviously surprised by her sudden reappearance.

"Back so soon?"

"Time is irrelevant to a Guardian," she began enigmatically. "I could have been gone minutes or years, you do not know."

"Yes well, the Dark Lord will want to know what have information you ascertained during your travels." He turned to leave.

"Before you fetch him and we have a meeting, I'd like something to eat and drink."

Lucius nodded and left the room.

**  
After she had received her fill of food and drink, Beth was taken to the place where Voldemort was sitting, the same room that Severus had received the Dark Mark. The Time Guardian swallowed and took deep breaths to calm her nerves and keep her emotions in check.

"Elizabeth, it is good to finally meet you after you have avoided me for so long. Come, please sit." He pointed to a chair opposite him. "We have a lot to discuss. You have been to the future, I presume?"

Beth nodded and sat. "Good, good. It seems our Potions maker is quite useful. I will have to remember that the next time I am in need of a concoction. Now, onto business, what did you see in the future?"

She had expected that Voldemort might be a bit more open-ended in his questioning than Severus. She knew what she needed to do. She would have to give him some information in order to get him to allow her to do what she had planned. "You know what I am, so you must know that I can only give you so much information. My first priority is protecting the time continuum." He showed his slight distaste for being ordered around by a child but he also understood, so he nodded for her to continue.

"First of all, you still have great power. You instill fear into the hearts of many. But there are a few obstacles in your way."

Voldemort waited for what she would say next. When she didn't, he leaned forward. "What sort of obstacles are you referring to?"

The Time Guardian leaned forward as well almost in a challenging stance. "Albus Dumbledore." Voldemort's upper lip curled. "But…" He leaned forward further. She had him hanging on her every word. Beth could hardly believe it, but she knew she had to tread carefully. "But with patience and careful planning, eventually you will be victorious." She had difficulty saying the words, knowing Professor Dumbledore's fate.

"That is bittersweet news. You said obstacles?"

"Yes. There is a prophecy that tells of your…demise."

Voldemort looked shocked. "Where is this prophecy? How do we get ahold of it? I should put my best followers and we will certainly find it." He stood to call Lucius.

"You won't find it." He stopped, looking at her questioningly. "It has not been made as of yet. And I will tell neither who the seer is nor when the prophecy is made nor how you can hear the details of it. But I promise that you do have many loyal followers who will help you accomplish these tasks and others." Beth sat back in the chair. "It's true that Severus is useful with making potions. Without him I would not have been able to travel into the future. However, for future visits I will need to find the ancient book of Time Guardians. It will allow me to do far more than if I just continue using the potion. In my visions, I have surmised that the book is at Hogwarts."

"I see. And you, Elizabeth, expect me to allow you to leave here to attend Hogwarts just like that? How do I know you won't take off? Or that you might try to go to Dumbledore?"

"You don't really. I know that your intellect and abilities are unrivaled by others. I know what you are capable of and not someone to cross. I'm not foolish enough to try something so beyond my means. Also you have Severus there to watch over my movements. I just need some sort of disguise. It would not hurt to be able to finish my schooling so that I may be more useful after graduation."

Voldemort appeared pensive but did not say anything. The next thing she knew, he was using Legilimency on her. She panicked for a split-second but was then able to control herself. She showed him several scenes involving Severus, such as making potions, helping her at school, and Dumbledore being hit with the Avada Kedavra curse. She was of course careful not to reveal background details on any of the scenes. She hoped it wouldn't be noticed by Voldemort that she was purposely doing this.

She sat there staring at him waiting for what seemed like ever as he watched her nothing about what he was thinking evident on his face. "There may be a way to acquire a suitable disguise. A spot has opened up in the 7th year Slytherin female quarters. Severus will be watching your every movement and will help you find what you seek."

_****  
A spot has opened up in the 7**__**th**__** year Slytherin female quarters.**_ _What had Voldemort meant by that?_ Beth thought as she packed all the things she would need at Hogwarts. A chill ran down her spine. She wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse that she knew so much. According to Lucius, Professor Griggs and Marcia were her cousins through marriage. Professor Griggs had been captured the year before by Voldemort. Had he taken Marcia too? Or worse?

Beth thought that she had known everything there was to know about the two wars that would be fought over two decades. She soon realized how little she really knew. Perhaps it was that she tried not to know very much about her own timeline of events. However, as she laid down on the mattress to sleep on the eve of her return to Hogwarts, she soon found out through her visions just how intricate Voldemort's plan to capture her had been.

_**"I put her under the Imperius Curse. She took a sleeping potion that should last for a while." Beth watched as Lucius stood over her own body. How easy she had made it for him. She looked down in shame. **__Not anymore. I'll never make it that easy for him again._

_** "What do you want me to do? Do you really think I can fool her friends?" A female voice called from the shadows. The Time Guardian recognized it as Marcia's.**_

_** "They shouldn't question your behavior too much after you tell them about the Dark Lord's proposal. They'll expect you to be shaken, to be scared. Shouldn't be too much of a stretch," he sneered. "Just don't do anything too out of character to make them suspicious, or there will be consequences. The same consequences that your mother brought upon herself when she was less than cooperative."**_

_** "U-Understood." Marcia's voice shook slightly. For the first time, Beth actually felt sympathy toward the girl who enjoyed giving her a hard time. Despite how she had wronged the Gryffindor, no one deserved to be at the mercy of Voldemort and his followers. Marcia was looking down examining Beth's body carefully with her eyes. The Time Guardian stood in awe as Marcia transformed herself to look exactly the same.**_

_** Beth thought back to a conversation she had with her friends about her own abilities. Morwenna had suggested the ability to change into anyone or anything, a metamorphmagus she has called it. Sirius said his cousin's daughter had this ability. **__Perhaps Marcia is a metamorphmagus as well. And that's why no one ever came to look for me. But I wonder what happened after…_

_** She didn't have to wait long. The vision changed to Hogwarts' Quidditch pitch. All of her friends were flying around together having a good time. She spotted the Beth-looking Marcia on the back of Remus' broom and felt a twinge of jealousy. Her emotions soon changed to horror as more than a dozen Death Eaters appeared and began attacking. Her heart was racing as some of her friends tried to hold off the attackers while Remus and "Beth" sped toward the safety of the castle. She felt her stomach drop when she realized that "Beth" never made it. An Avada Kedavra curse came from behind toward them. **__Marcia is dead! And I'm about to take her place in Slytherin house._

**  
Beth disguised as Marcia through the use of a polyjuice potion followed Severus through the crowds of people on Platform 9 ¾. She was trying to avoid bumping into anyone. She was quite a bit taller being Marcia, but she still felt so small inside. She was lost in thought and didn't realize she had bumped her cart into someone else's.

"I'm- oh, it's you." Beth looked up, startled to see James Potter acting so coolly toward her. Of course she had to remind herself that she in fact wasn't herself. They stood there staring at one another.

"What's the hold up, James?" Sirius came up behind him. Beth knew she had to stop acting like herself and act more like Marcia or she'd be found out in a heartbeat.

Then she noticed the gleaming badge on his robes. "Really Potter, Headboy? Has Dumbledore finally cracked?" Inside she was so proud, but she managed an awkward looking sneer.

Severus turned around quickly hearing her words. "What?! Dumbledore made _you_ Headboy?!"

"Can hardly believe it, can you Snivelly?" Sirius jeered. "James beat you out for the position. We're going to have so much fun this year!"

Beth knew that James had changed since she had first met him, and she hoped that he would not abuse his power. "You better watch yourself," she spoke up stepping toward Sirius. "We're still prefects. If we see you, we're not going to let you go traipsing about breaking the rules."

"Then I guess we'll just have to make sure we're not seen." Sirius moved forward to get into her personal space but James held him back. Seeing that he couldn't move toward, he opted for a verbal insult. "What's this 'we' business? Is Snivellus your new boyfriend? That's the best you can do?"

Beth didn't answer. In fact she was looking behind both of them at Remus coming toward them. She felt chills and her heart was melting. Then she felt Severus pulling her away toward the train. "Better than you'd be!" She shouted.

"I'll take that as a challenge," Sirius barked in response.

She watched as Lily and her friends joined the Marauders and also discovered James was Headboy. She allowed herself a small smile. Then playing the scene back in her head, she realized what she had said. _Stupid! Why did I say that to Sirius?_

**  
Severus and Beth found an empty compartment on the train. The Time Guardian remained standing while her companion sat down immediately. "I can't believe it. What in Merlin's name would possess Dumbledore to make Potter Headboy? It just doesn't make any sense. Why…?"

The adrenaline had been pumping through Beth's body as she encountered all her friends for the first time since her capture. Now she felt completely drained and like she would hyperventilate. Tears began to cover her cheeks. "I-I don't know if I can do this, Severus. I think I would rather face the Dark Lord and his Legilimency than go through with that again."

Severus pulled her down on the seat. "Listen to me. You can do this." Tears continued to fall. "Look at…Look at me," his voice was more firm the second time. She looked into his eyes. "You have to remember that Beth and her friendship with the Gryffindors don't exist anymore. You are Marcia Griggs, a Slytherin, who doesn't cry or get doe-eyed for Gryffindor boys. You are here for two reasons only. One, to get the book, and two, to finish your education. Don't get any other ideas in your head. I'm putting myself on the line for you. I hope you know and appreciate that."

"I do know that, and I appreciate all you've done for me, Severus." She put her arms around him in a hug.

"Marcia Griggs doesn't hug either, at least in public places." Beth smirked at him. She loved and appreciated everything about him, even his humor.

**  
The next few weeks gave new meaning to the phrase "living in someone else's shoes." Beth watched and observed everything. She noticed her old friends seem to act quite differently. It was probably the same they had always been, but she was now seeing them through Marcia's eyes. The girls mostly ignored her, which she expected, but it still hurt. James and Lily were cordial enough when they had to work with the prefects. Beth could tell their behavior toward each other was changing, and she wouldn't be surprised if they were dating by graduation.

Remus was also cordial but distant. She could tell he wasn't the same. Of course she understood why. He had been trying to save her and thought he had failed. It broke her heart to look at him, which was why she tried desperately not to look at him too often. Peter only joined in with Sirius' comments when he was making fun of the Slytherins namely Severus and herself. Sirius was the one who challenged her the most. Ever since she had said that Severus made a better boyfriend, Sirius would turn up in the most unexpected places to tease and mock her by pretending to be interested in being her beau.

At first she had thought it funny deep down inside, but now he was really beginning to annoy her. She knew he wouldn't quit no matter what she did. He would have to be told by someone else or get bored with the idea. It scared her every time because she was afraid that she would reveal her true identity.

Today she was in the library when he came in with his shenanigans. Luckily, Madame Pince had gotten annoyed with him as well and had thrown him out. Beth looked around at the tables of students, most of them Ravenclaws. Then an idea dawned on her. _I should make new friends. Perhaps that will help me get through the year._

Beth chose a table with a lone Ravenclaw and walked up to a chair across from her. She hoped that the other girl would be receptive to sitting with her. She wasn't exactly the best at making new friends. "Hello, I see you've got an advanced potions book out. What year are you in? I'm Marcia Griggs by the way."

The petite girl with brown hair and gray-green eyes looked up from her parchment and book. "Yes, I'm 6th year but I've already mastered the 6th year potions so Professor Slughorn gave me extra reading material. Jezzel Serel, but I prefer Jesse."

"Wow that's impressive. I wish I were better at Potions. I barely squeak by even with a tutor. Do you mind if I sit with you?"

Jesse didn't say anything but motioned for the Slytherin to sit down.

**  
Slowly Beth was able to get Jesse to open up to her. She found she was brilliant when it came to book smarts and knowledge. She just didn't care to make friends. So Beth felt privileged that she seemed to be becoming a friend to her.

They were walking across the grounds one day when Beth noticed a boy also in Ravenclaw leaning against a tree with a knife in his hand. She gestured toward him. "Do you know who that is over there?"

"Yes, that's James Fisher, 7th year Ravenclaw. He's an idiot. I don't know how he made it into the same house as me. Don't bother with him. He doesn't care too much for Slytherins."

"What makes you think I wanted to 'bother with him' as you put it? You said he's an idiot and doesn't like Slytherins? I think it would be fun to mess with him then. Is there anything good in those books you get for extra reading material?"

Beth saw Jesse smirk for the first time ever. "Well there was an interesting potion that makes you appear like a ghost. I think that would be fun."

"Brilliant." She returned the smirk. _Appear as a ghost? That would open up so many opportunities for me! Maybe I could see my friends!_

**  
Beth was walking toward the Slytherin common room when she heard someone calling her from behind. "Marcia!" Her skin ran cold when she recognized the voice as her cousin Dia. She had managed to avoid her thus far, but it was only a matter of time before Dia caught up with her, especially since Dia and Marcia were friends as well as cousins.

She walked into an empty classroom so that Dia could follow her and they wouldn't be out in the corridor for others to hear. "You want to be a little more discreet? You know what people would say if they saw us together."

"Since when have you cared about what people say? Why haven't you answered my owls in months? And then you just show up back at Hogwarts and treat me like a stranger. I actually had to stay at my parents' mansion in France all summer. It was…hard." Beth could tell that Dia was struggling to keep her emotions concealed.

What should she say? "I was taking care of things at home with mum. Dumbledore allowed me to take my exams from home. I spent the summer with my sister and her family. I didn't feel like talking to anyone. I didn't even want to come back, but my sister forced me. I've been busy with N.E.W.T. level courses." They were lame excuses but there was nothing else she could think of at the moment.

Dia stepped toward her with her wand out. "Not you…not you! You're my best friend, my only true family. Why does it feel like everyone is abandoning me?" Her voice was almost a whisper. "My parents, grandparents don't care, my aunt and uncle, even my stupid cousin, Elizabeth, had to go and get herself killed." Dia pointed her wand at Beth's chest. "I went to visit your sister at the end of summer. She said she hasn't seen you in months, ever since you left to come back from spring holiday. So tell me again, what's this about staying home and taking exams? We don't keep things from each other. Why are you lying to me?"

Beth cursed the Death Eaters for not preparing her with a storyline about all they had done after she had been captured. They had tried to keep everything neat but they didn't count on her wonderful cousin checking up on her, meaning Marcia. "Please calm down. There's no need to point your wand at me, Dia. You are my family, my best friend. I'm sorry for keeping things from you, for pretending you were a stranger. I may do a lot of things that you don't like, but I will never abandon you, Dia." The Gryffindor put away her wand. "I'm closer to you than my own sister. I wish I could tell you what's going on, but right now you'll just have to trust me." She pulled her into a hug that Dia surprisingly returned. She had never experienced this before with Dia; it was nice.

**  
Beth spent her Saturdays in the Room of Requirement alone with the Time Guardian book studying all of its secrets. She wanted to know everything there was to fulfilling her role and her duties. There were two reasons that she ever came here. Actually three if you wanted to count the fact that that's where she hid her book. The first was that she wanted to be reminded of all her fond memories with her friends. The second was that she secretly hoped that one of her friends would come back here.

She had all but given up hope on the latter because she figured that they just didn't want to be reminded of all the time they had spent here tutoring her. And then she was cruelly taken away from them. If only they knew what had really happened…

The Time Guardian was startled out of her reverie when the door to the room began to open. She quickly used her invisibility spell. She almost gasped when she saw Remus walking into the room. He looked around and moved to the far right of Beth. She watched as he sat down and rummaged through some things. She moved closer to see what he was doing. Her eyes were wide with surprise when she realized that he was going through her old trunk that she had left behind. She hadn't even known it was there.

"Oh Beth," he sighed. "I miss you so much," he whispered. He began to sob over what looked like a figurine of two people dancing in the air. She didn't recognize it as hers. Then it dawned on her. _That's us! He must have given that to 'me' after I was captured. Aww, that's so sweet._ Her heart ached for him. She wanted to reach out and touch him but knew she couldn't.

She didn't know if he would ever stop crying but suddenly he did as the door opened again to let in James. "Hey Moony, oh, sorry I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I just noticed that you seemed a little extra down today." He looked at the gift Remus was holding. "Oh, I understand now."

"Sorry Prongs, I know how hard you, Padfoot, and Wormtail try to cheer me up. Most days I feel pretty good. It's just that today was the day when Beth first came into our lives. I felt like I had to do something. I wanted to do it alone because I didn't want to make anyone else feel sad."

James put his arm around Remus' shoulders. "You don't have to do this alone. I miss her too you know. Everyone does. Hey, I know what we can do. Let's go get some get some butterbeer and chocolate frogs to celebrate Beth."

Remus smiled. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. You go ahead, Prongs. I'll catch up with you in a second." James squeezed his friend's shoulder and left. The werewolf dried his tears. He kissed the figurine and carefully put it away in the trunk and closed it. He put his hand on the trunk. "I loved you Beth. I wish I hadn't been so afraid to tell you." He stood and left the room quickly.

As soon as the door closed, Beth ran to the trunk and threw it open pulling out the figurine that Remus had been holding moments before. It was beautiful; she wondered if Remus had made it himself. She was positively beaming. She kissed it as if to try to feel Remus' kiss. She wondered how Marcia had reacted to the gift. It didn't mean anything to her. _What a waste!_ She pictured the scene as if she had been there. How would she have reacted? She giggled. _ I probably would have thrown myself into his arms and kissed him right there!_ Suddenly a thought occurred to her. _I should go to the Gryffindor common room while invisible._

**  
It took her awhile but finally she was able to slip into Gryffindor and find a suitable place to hide without anyone bumping into her. She waited and soon only the Marauders and the 7th year girls were left in the common room. The Marauders passed out chocolate frogs and butterbeer to everyone. James was the first to speak.

"Okay so Remus reminded me that today was the day that Beth first came into our lives…and changed all of us for the better. So we wanted to celebrate but having some of her favorite snacks and telling our favorite memories. Who wants to start?"

"Ooh, me," Sirius jumped up enthusiastically. "My favorite memory was finding out that Beth was behind all those pranks she played on me. She made me so proud." He brushed away a fake tear from his cheek.

Everyone laughed. Morwenna was next. "My favorites were the days that Peter and I helped her with history of magic. I'm sure she was as bored as we were in Binns' class, but she made it fun and never complained." Peter nodded in agreement.

"I loved having a good time with her just in our room with our girl talk. She sure could eat her weight in chocolate frogs." Alice bit off a frog leg.

"She could always be relied on for anything. And she was brave," Peter added.

Dorcas took a sip of butterbeer. "She showed us all that you can do anything you put your mind to. I was in awe of how much stuff she was able to learn in such a short time." The others nodded.

"I enjoyed our lessons together as well. Even though Transfiguration was hard for her she never gave up. I taught her, and she, perhaps unintentionally, taught me that I wasn't living up to my potential as a leader." James looked to Lily.

Lily smiled at James. "Yes she has had such a profound effect on our lives. She was so patient and kind to everyone no matter whom they were. I admired her for that."

Everyone looked to Remus, who had not said anything as of yet. Beth's ears perked up. She sort of felt guilty for spying on them considering all the kind words they were saying about her. But it cheered her considerably and motivated her to move forward with her plans.

"My favorite memory…There's not really any one in particular. I loved everything about her. I loved...her." Remus put his head down. James and Sirius, who were on either side of him, put their hands on his shoulders. "It's okay. I'm okay. You know, we should take a picture of all of us to remember this fine day."

Beth choked back a sob. She froze as she could have sworn she saw Remus look straight at her. She hadn't meant to be heard. She hoped he hadn't heard her. She suddenly remembered back to the first day she was able transport herself wherever she wanted. She realized just how acute his hearing was. She would have to be careful. Beth continued to watch as the rest of the night folded out. She smiled as her friends gathered for the picture. _This is just like the dream I had about them before I even met them. But it was more than a dream. It must have been my first vision as a Time Guardian_.

She waited for them to finish celebrating and then left the room. It was late, and she needed to be back in her own common room. She yawned as she walked toward the stairs to her dormitory. Suddenly a hand clasped over her mouth and she was pulled backward. She gasped. She was quickly whirled around to face a very angry Severus.


	17. Everything Begins to Fall Apart

A/N: Sorry it's been a few weeks. I've updated all the chapters so everything jives more. Just a reminder none of the world or characters belongs to me except Beth, Marcia, Dia, and Professor Griggs. Morwenna belongs to a fanfiction friend of mine, fellytone. Jezzel Serel and James Fisher belong to friends of mine from the RP world. You should be seeing more of them. Enjoy everyone, and please review.

Chapter 16 Back to the Past

With a flash, Beth was back to the mansion she left and back to imprisonment as well. Freedom had felt so refreshing; she was sad to leave it. She knew she had to return, or she would never truly be free from Voldemort.

She smiled as she saw Lucius turn around quickly, wand out, obviously surprised by her sudden reappearance.

"Back so soon?"

"Time is irrelevant to a Guardian," she began enigmatically. "I could have been gone minutes or years, you do not know."

"Yes well, the Dark Lord will want to know what have information you ascertained during your travels." He turned to leave.

"Before you fetch him and we have a meeting, I'd like something to eat and drink."

Lucius nodded and left the room.

**  
After she had received her fill of food and drink, Beth was taken to the place where Voldemort was sitting, the same room that Severus had received the Dark Mark. The Time Guardian swallowed and took deep breaths to calm her nerves and keep her emotions in check.

"Elizabeth, it is good to finally meet you after you have avoided me for so long. Come, please sit." He pointed to a chair opposite him. "We have a lot to discuss. You have been to the future, I presume?"

Beth nodded and sat. "Good, good. It seems our Potions maker is quite useful. I will have to remember that the next time I am in need of a concoction. Now, onto business, what did you see in the future?"

She had expected that Voldemort might be a bit more open-ended in his questioning than Severus. She knew what she needed to do. She would have to give him some information in order to get him to allow her to do what she had planned. "You know what I am, so you must know that I can only give you so much information. My first priority is protecting the time continuum." He showed his slight distaste for being ordered around by a child but he also understood, so he nodded for her to continue.

"First of all, you still have great power. You instill fear into the hearts of many. But there are a few obstacles in your way."

Voldemort waited for what she would say next. When she didn't, he leaned forward. "What sort of obstacles are you referring to?"

The Time Guardian leaned forward as well almost in a challenging stance. "Albus Dumbledore." Voldemort's upper lip curled. "But…" He leaned forward further. She had him hanging on her every word. Beth could hardly believe it, but she knew she had to tread carefully. "But with patience and careful planning, eventually you will be victorious." She had difficulty saying the words, knowing Professor Dumbledore's fate.

"That is bittersweet news. You said obstacles?"

"Yes. There is a prophecy that tells of your…demise."

Voldemort looked shocked. "Where is this prophecy? How do we get ahold of it? I should put my best followers and we will certainly find it." He stood to call Lucius.

"You won't find it." He stopped, looking at her questioningly. "It has not been made as of yet. And I will tell neither who the seer is nor when the prophecy is made nor how you can hear the details of it. But I promise that you do have many loyal followers who will help you accomplish these tasks and others." Beth sat back in the chair. "It's true that Severus is useful with making potions. Without him I would not have been able to travel into the future. However, for future visits I will need to find the ancient book of Time Guardians. It will allow me to do far more than if I just continue using the potion. In my visions, I have surmised that the book is at Hogwarts."

"I see. And you, Elizabeth, expect me to allow you to leave here to attend Hogwarts just like that? How do I know you won't take off? Or that you might try to go to Dumbledore?"

"You don't really. I know that your intellect and abilities are unrivaled by others. I know what you are capable of and not someone to cross. I'm not foolish enough to try something so beyond my means. Also you have Severus there to watch over my movements. I just need some sort of disguise. It would not hurt to be able to finish my schooling so that I may be more useful after graduation."

Voldemort appeared pensive but did not say anything. The next thing she knew, he was using Legilimency on her. She panicked for a split-second but was then able to control herself. She showed him several scenes involving Severus, such as making potions, helping her at school, and Dumbledore being hit with the Avada Kedavra curse. She was of course careful not to reveal background details on any of the scenes. She hoped it wouldn't be noticed by Voldemort that she was purposely doing this.

She sat there staring at him waiting for what seemed like ever as he watched her nothing about what he was thinking evident on his face. "There may be a way to acquire a suitable disguise. A spot has opened up in the 7th year Slytherin female quarters. Severus will be watching your every movement and will help you find what you seek."

_****  
A spot has opened up in the 7**__**th**__** year Slytherin female quarters.**_ _What had Voldemort meant by that?_ Beth thought as she packed all the things she would need at Hogwarts. A chill ran down her spine. She wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse that she knew so much. According to Lucius, Professor Griggs and Marcia were her cousins through marriage. Professor Griggs had been captured the year before by Voldemort. Had he taken Marcia too? Or worse?

Beth thought that she had known everything there was to know about the two wars that would be fought over two decades. She soon realized how little she really knew. Perhaps it was that she tried not to know very much about her own timeline of events. However, as she laid down on the mattress to sleep on the eve of her return to Hogwarts, she soon found out through her visions just how intricate Voldemort's plan to capture her had been.

_**"I put her under the Imperius Curse. She took a sleeping potion that should last for a while." Beth watched as Lucius stood over her own body. How easy she had made it for him. She looked down in shame. **__Not anymore. I'll never make it that easy for him again._

_** "What do you want me to do? Do you really think I can fool her friends?" A female voice called from the shadows. The Time Guardian recognized it as Marcia's.**_

_** "They shouldn't question your behavior too much after you tell them about the Dark Lord's proposal. They'll expect you to be shaken, to be scared. Shouldn't be too much of a stretch," he sneered. "Just don't do anything too out of character to make them suspicious, or there will be consequences. The same consequences that your mother brought upon herself when she was less than cooperative."**_

_** "U-Understood." Marcia's voice shook slightly. For the first time, Beth actually felt sympathy toward the girl who enjoyed giving her a hard time. Despite how she had wronged the Gryffindor, no one deserved to be at the mercy of Voldemort and his followers. Marcia was looking down examining Beth's body carefully with her eyes. The Time Guardian stood in awe as Marcia transformed herself to look exactly the same.**_

_** Beth thought back to a conversation she had with her friends about her own abilities. Morwenna had suggested the ability to change into anyone or anything, a metamorphmagus she has called it. Sirius said his cousin's daughter had this ability. **__Perhaps Marcia is a metamorphmagus as well. And that's why no one ever came to look for me. But I wonder what happened after…_

_** She didn't have to wait long. The vision changed to Hogwarts' Quidditch pitch. All of her friends were flying around together having a good time. She spotted the Beth-looking Marcia on the back of Remus' broom and felt a twinge of jealousy. Her emotions soon changed to horror as more than a dozen Death Eaters appeared and began attacking. Her heart was racing as some of her friends tried to hold off the attackers while Remus and "Beth" sped toward the safety of the castle. She felt her stomach drop when she realized that "Beth" never made it. An Avada Kedavra curse came from behind toward them. **__Marcia is dead! And I'm about to take her place in Slytherin house._

**  
Beth disguised as Marcia through the use of a polyjuice potion followed Severus through the crowds of people on Platform 9 ¾. She was trying to avoid bumping into anyone. She was quite a bit taller being Marcia, but she still felt so small inside. She was lost in thought and didn't realize she had bumped her cart into someone else's.

"I'm- oh, it's you." Beth looked up, startled to see James Potter acting so coolly toward her. Of course she had to remind herself that she in fact wasn't herself. They stood there staring at one another.

"What's the hold up, James?" Sirius came up behind him. Beth knew she had to stop acting like herself and act more like Marcia or she'd be found out in a heartbeat.

Then she noticed the gleaming badge on his robes. "Really Potter, Headboy? Has Dumbledore finally cracked?" Inside she was so proud, but she managed an awkward looking sneer.

Severus turned around quickly hearing her words. "What?! Dumbledore made _you_ Headboy?!"

"Can hardly believe it, can you Snivelly?" Sirius jeered. "James beat you out for the position. We're going to have so much fun this year!"

Beth knew that James had changed since she had first met him, and she hoped that he would not abuse his power. "You better watch yourself," she spoke up stepping toward Sirius. "We're still prefects. If we see you, we're not going to let you go traipsing about breaking the rules."

"Then I guess we'll just have to make sure we're not seen." Sirius moved forward to get into her personal space but James held him back. Seeing that he couldn't move toward, he opted for a verbal insult. "What's this 'we' business? Is Snivellus your new boyfriend? That's the best you can do?"

Beth didn't answer. In fact she was looking behind both of them at Remus coming toward them. She felt chills and her heart was melting. Then she felt Severus pulling her away toward the train. "Better than you'd be!" She shouted.

"I'll take that as a challenge," Sirius barked in response.

She watched as Lily and her friends joined the Marauders and also discovered James was Headboy. She allowed herself a small smile. Then playing the scene back in her head, she realized what she had said. _Stupid! Why did I say that to Sirius?_

**  
Severus and Beth found an empty compartment on the train. The Time Guardian remained standing while her companion sat down immediately. "I can't believe it. What in Merlin's name would possess Dumbledore to make Potter Headboy? It just doesn't make any sense. Why…?"

The adrenaline had been pumping through Beth's body as she encountered all her friends for the first time since her capture. Now she felt completely drained and like she would hyperventilate. Tears began to cover her cheeks. "I-I don't know if I can do this, Severus. I think I would rather face the Dark Lord and his Legilimency than go through with that again."

Severus pulled her down on the seat. "Listen to me. You can do this." Tears continued to fall. "Look at…Look at me," his voice was more firm the second time. She looked into his eyes. "You have to remember that Beth and her friendship with the Gryffindors don't exist anymore. You are Marcia Griggs, a Slytherin, who doesn't cry or get doe-eyed for Gryffindor boys. You are here for two reasons only. One, to get the book, and two, to finish your education. Don't get any other ideas in your head. I'm putting myself on the line for you. I hope you know and appreciate that."

"I do know that, and I appreciate all you've done for me, Severus." She put her arms around him in a hug.

"Marcia Griggs doesn't hug either, at least in public places." Beth smirked at him. She loved and appreciated everything about him, even his humor.

**  
The next few weeks gave new meaning to the phrase "living in someone else's shoes." Beth watched and observed everything. She noticed her old friends seem to act quite differently. It was probably the same they had always been, but she was now seeing them through Marcia's eyes. The girls mostly ignored her, which she expected, but it still hurt. James and Lily were cordial enough when they had to work with the prefects. Beth could tell their behavior toward each other was changing, and she wouldn't be surprised if they were dating by graduation.

Remus was also cordial but distant. She could tell he wasn't the same. Of course she understood why. He had been trying to save her and thought he had failed. It broke her heart to look at him, which was why she tried desperately not to look at him too often. Peter only joined in with Sirius' comments when he was making fun of the Slytherins namely Severus and herself. Sirius was the one who challenged her the most. Ever since she had said that Severus made a better boyfriend, Sirius would turn up in the most unexpected places to tease and mock her by pretending to be interested in being her beau.

At first she had thought it funny deep down inside, but now he was really beginning to annoy her. She knew he wouldn't quit no matter what she did. He would have to be told by someone else or get bored with the idea. It scared her every time because she was afraid that she would reveal her true identity.

Today she was in the library when he came in with his shenanigans. Luckily, Madame Pince had gotten annoyed with him as well and had thrown him out. Beth looked around at the tables of students, most of them Ravenclaws. Then an idea dawned on her. _I should make new friends. Perhaps that will help me get through the year._

Beth chose a table with a lone Ravenclaw and walked up to a chair across from her. She hoped that the other girl would be receptive to sitting with her. She wasn't exactly the best at making new friends. "Hello, I see you've got an advanced potions book out. What year are you in? I'm Marcia Griggs by the way."

The petite girl with brown hair and gray-green eyes looked up from her parchment and book. "Yes, I'm 6th year but I've already mastered the 6th year potions so Professor Slughorn gave me extra reading material. Jezzel Serel, but I prefer Jesse."

"Wow that's impressive. I wish I were better at Potions. I barely squeak by even with a tutor. Do you mind if I sit with you?"

Jesse didn't say anything but motioned for the Slytherin to sit down.

**  
Slowly Beth was able to get Jesse to open up to her. She found she was brilliant when it came to book smarts and knowledge. She just didn't care to make friends. So Beth felt privileged that she seemed to be becoming a friend to her.

They were walking across the grounds one day when Beth noticed a boy also in Ravenclaw leaning against a tree with a knife in his hand. She gestured toward him. "Do you know who that is over there?"

"Yes, that's James Fisher, 7th year Ravenclaw. He's an idiot. I don't know how he made it into the same house as me. Don't bother with him. He doesn't care too much for Slytherins."

"What makes you think I wanted to 'bother with him' as you put it? You said he's an idiot and doesn't like Slytherins? I think it would be fun to mess with him then. Is there anything good in those books you get for extra reading material?"

Beth saw Jesse smirk for the first time ever. "Well there was an interesting potion that makes you appear like a ghost. I think that would be fun."

"Brilliant." She returned the smirk. _Appear as a ghost? That would open up so many opportunities for me! Maybe I could see my friends!_

**  
Beth was walking toward the Slytherin common room when she heard someone calling her from behind. "Marcia!" Her skin ran cold when she recognized the voice as her cousin Dia. She had managed to avoid her thus far, but it was only a matter of time before Dia caught up with her, especially since Dia and Marcia were friends as well as cousins.

She walked into an empty classroom so that Dia could follow her and they wouldn't be out in the corridor for others to hear. "You want to be a little more discreet? You know what people would say if they saw us together."

"Since when have you cared about what people say? Why haven't you answered my owls in months? And then you just show up back at Hogwarts and treat me like a stranger. I actually had to stay at my parents' mansion in France all summer. It was…hard." Beth could tell that Dia was struggling to keep her emotions concealed.

What should she say? "I was taking care of things at home with mum. Dumbledore allowed me to take my exams from home. I spent the summer with my sister and her family. I didn't feel like talking to anyone. I didn't even want to come back, but my sister forced me. I've been busy with N.E.W.T. level courses." They were lame excuses but there was nothing else she could think of at the moment.

Dia stepped toward her with her wand out. "Not you…not you! You're my best friend, my only true family. Why does it feel like everyone is abandoning me?" Her voice was almost a whisper. "My parents, grandparents don't care, my aunt and uncle, even my stupid cousin, Elizabeth, had to go and get herself killed." Dia pointed her wand at Beth's chest. "I went to visit your sister at the end of summer. She said she hasn't seen you in months, ever since you left to come back from spring holiday. So tell me again, what's this about staying home and taking exams? We don't keep things from each other. Why are you lying to me?"

Beth cursed the Death Eaters for not preparing her with a storyline about all they had done after she had been captured. They had tried to keep everything neat but they didn't count on her wonderful cousin checking up on her, meaning Marcia. "Please calm down. There's no need to point your wand at me, Dia. You are my family, my best friend. I'm sorry for keeping things from you, for pretending you were a stranger. I may do a lot of things that you don't like, but I will never abandon you, Dia." The Gryffindor put away her wand. "I'm closer to you than my own sister. I wish I could tell you what's going on, but right now you'll just have to trust me." She pulled her into a hug that Dia surprisingly returned. She had never experienced this before with Dia; it was nice.

**  
Beth spent her Saturdays in the Room of Requirement alone with the Time Guardian book studying all of its secrets. She wanted to know everything there was to fulfilling her role and her duties. There were two reasons that she ever came here. Actually three if you wanted to count the fact that that's where she hid her book. The first was that she wanted to be reminded of all her fond memories with her friends. The second was that she secretly hoped that one of her friends would come back here.

She had all but given up hope on the latter because she figured that they just didn't want to be reminded of all the time they had spent here tutoring her. And then she was cruelly taken away from them. If only they knew what had really happened…

The Time Guardian was startled out of her reverie when the door to the room began to open. She quickly used her invisibility spell. She almost gasped when she saw Remus walking into the room. He looked around and moved to the far right of Beth. She watched as he sat down and rummaged through some things. She moved closer to see what he was doing. Her eyes were wide with surprise when she realized that he was going through her old trunk that she had left behind. She hadn't even known it was there.

"Oh Beth," he sighed. "I miss you so much," he whispered. He began to sob over what looked like a figurine of two people dancing in the air. She didn't recognize it as hers. Then it dawned on her. _That's us! He must have given that to 'me' after I was captured. Aww, that's so sweet._ Her heart ached for him. She wanted to reach out and touch him but knew she couldn't.

She didn't know if he would ever stop crying but suddenly he did as the door opened again to let in James. "Hey Moony, oh, sorry I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I just noticed that you seemed a little extra down today." He looked at the gift Remus was holding. "Oh, I understand now."

"Sorry Prongs, I know how hard you, Padfoot, and Wormtail try to cheer me up. Most days I feel pretty good. It's just that today was the day when Beth first came into our lives. I felt like I had to do something. I wanted to do it alone because I didn't want to make anyone else feel sad."

James put his arm around Remus' shoulders. "You don't have to do this alone. I miss her too you know. Everyone does. Hey, I know what we can do. Let's go get some get some butterbeer and chocolate frogs to celebrate Beth."

Remus smiled. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. You go ahead, Prongs. I'll catch up with you in a second." James squeezed his friend's shoulder and left. The werewolf dried his tears. He kissed the figurine and carefully put it away in the trunk and closed it. He put his hand on the trunk. "I loved you Beth. I wish I hadn't been so afraid to tell you." He stood and left the room quickly.

As soon as the door closed, Beth ran to the trunk and threw it open pulling out the figurine that Remus had been holding moments before. It was beautiful; she wondered if Remus had made it himself. She was positively beaming. She kissed it as if to try to feel Remus' kiss. She wondered how Marcia had reacted to the gift. It didn't mean anything to her. _What a waste!_ She pictured the scene as if she had been there. How would she have reacted? She giggled. _ I probably would have thrown myself into his arms and kissed him right there!_ Suddenly a thought occurred to her. _I should go to the Gryffindor common room while invisible._

**  
It took her awhile but finally she was able to slip into Gryffindor and find a suitable place to hide without anyone bumping into her. She waited and soon only the Marauders and the 7th year girls were left in the common room. The Marauders passed out chocolate frogs and butterbeer to everyone. James was the first to speak.

"Okay so Remus reminded me that today was the day that Beth first came into our lives…and changed all of us for the better. So we wanted to celebrate but having some of her favorite snacks and telling our favorite memories. Who wants to start?"

"Ooh, me," Sirius jumped up enthusiastically. "My favorite memory was finding out that Beth was behind all those pranks she played on me. She made me so proud." He brushed away a fake tear from his cheek.

Everyone laughed. Morwenna was next. "My favorites were the days that Peter and I helped her with history of magic. I'm sure she was as bored as we were in Binns' class, but she made it fun and never complained." Peter nodded in agreement.

"I loved having a good time with her just in our room with our girl talk. She sure could eat her weight in chocolate frogs." Alice bit off a frog leg.

"She could always be relied on for anything. And she was brave," Peter added.

Dorcas took a sip of butterbeer. "She showed us all that you can do anything you put your mind to. I was in awe of how much stuff she was able to learn in such a short time." The others nodded.

"I enjoyed our lessons together as well. Even though Transfiguration was hard for her she never gave up. I taught her, and she, perhaps unintentionally, taught me that I wasn't living up to my potential as a leader." James looked to Lily.

Lily smiled at James. "Yes she has had such a profound effect on our lives. She was so patient and kind to everyone no matter whom they were. I admired her for that."

Everyone looked to Remus, who had not said anything as of yet. Beth's ears perked up. She sort of felt guilty for spying on them considering all the kind words they were saying about her. But it cheered her considerably and motivated her to move forward with her plans.

"My favorite memory…There's not really any one in particular. I loved everything about her. I loved...her." Remus put his head down. James and Sirius, who were on either side of him, put their hands on his shoulders. "It's okay. I'm okay. You know, we should take a picture of all of us to remember this fine day."

Beth choked back a sob. She froze as she could have sworn she saw Remus look straight at her. She hadn't meant to be heard. She hoped he hadn't heard her. She suddenly remembered back to the first day she was able transport herself wherever she wanted. She realized just how acute his hearing was. She would have to be careful. Beth continued to watch as the rest of the night folded out. She smiled as her friends gathered for the picture. _This is just like the dream I had about them before I even met them. But it was more than a dream. It must have been my first vision as a Time Guardian_.

She waited for them to finish celebrating and then left the room. It was late, and she needed to be back in her own common room. She yawned as she walked toward the stairs to her dormitory. Suddenly a hand clasped over her mouth and she was pulled backward. She gasped. She was quickly whirled around to face a very angry Severus.


	18. The End

Chapter 18 The End

Beth sighed as she worked with Severus during potions class. The day was May 23rd, a day that was supposed to be special but she knew it would be nothing of the sort. She was turning 18 years old. She was tempted to use the last of the ghost potion to visit Remus, but it was too much of a risk to be seen by anyone else but the werewolf. Besides she had other things to worry about. The year was soon to be winding down, and she still hadn't "found" the Time Guardian book with Severus. What would happen once they had it in their possession? Would Voldemort want her to return immediately? She had to prepare for any possible contingency.

"You look a little distracted," Severus commented. "You need to concentrate if we're going to be able to prepare this potion correctly."

The Time Guardian finished slicing goosegrass. "I think we should search again as soon as we can. We're running out of time and opportunities to do so. I think I might know where the secret room is located."

Severus stirred the cauldron in front of them. "We'll do it this weekend."

**  
The Time Guardian was deliberately making it seem like she'd never been to the Room of Requirement before. She had told the Slytherin boy that Jesse had told her about a secret room on the 7th floor and how to access it.

She watched as Severus admired the vastness of the room. There were so many items held within; it was astounding. The night before she had snuck in to cover up her old trunk and anything else she didn't want Severus to see. They split up so they could cover more ground. Beth made a show of looking for the book. "I can sense it's here."

"Where should we look then?" He looked to her for guidance.

Beth moved toward the wall where the book was being kept. "I think I can sense it within the wall. There must be a piece loose somewhere." They both tried feeling around for something loose. The Time Guardian let the search go on for a good while before announcing that she may have it. She pulled on a piece of the wall with her fingers. It easily slid out into her hands. And inside, there was the book.

Severus looked impressed as he took the book from her to examine it. "This is good news; we can inform the Dark Lord immediately." The Slytherin boy decreased the size of the book so that he could fit it into his robes.

"What are you doing? The book is mine. I should be reading it so that I can fulfill my duties. What will happen to the book?"

"I will keep it in my possession for now. We'll wait until we are given our next orders. Let's go to the Owlery."

"You're not going anywhere, Snivellus." Beth and Severus turned to find Remus, Sirius, James, and Peter standing in the doorway.

_How did they know? They must have followed us! _ Suddenly she realized how they knew where they were. _The Marauders' Map! That means they probably know who are really am. How could I have been so foolish? I should have stolen it from them in the beginning of the year, so they couldn't see my real name on it. I need to confiscate that map._

**  
Peter stood to the side and a little behind James. He was rather afraid what this confrontation might lead to. He wasn't afraid of being hurt as he had his three best friends and the best duelers in the school with him. He was afraid that if his friends figured out the truth, he as well as they would be hunted by the Dark Lord. He had to use his cleverness to turn this into the best situation possible. That was why when the four of them had seen Beth's name on the Marauders' Map; he firmly implanted in their minds a suitable explanation for it.

_**"I found that Jezzel girl in the library." Sirius entered the boys' dormitory.**_

_** "And?" The three Marauders were sitting on their beds.**_

_** "I think she knew something. She was rather cryptic about it." He joined them on his own four-poster.**_

_** "Well come on Padfoot, what did she say then?"**_

_** "She said, 'Your answer comes from your friend's genealogy.'"**_

_** "Genealogy? Like family tree?"**_

_** "Yes, remember you told us that Beth was a descendant of Merlin? Oh wait, oh! I've got it! Beth was researching Merlin before she died. The book from the library could still be in her trunk!" Remus declared.**_

_** "What are we waiting for? Let's go get it!" Sirius jumped up and moved toward the door.**_

_** "Wait," James interrupted, "someone else could be using the room. We should check the map before walking in there."**_

_** Peter watched Remus' eyes widen as he checked the map. "Dear Merlin, Snape is there! And so is Beth!"**_

_** "What? Snape must have her captive!" The three looked to Peter and then the four of them rushed from their dormitory to the Room of Requirement**_.

**  
Three of the Marauders looked surprised to see Marcia there but were poised to fight. Peter's face showed a look that seemed to be somewhere between knowing what was going on and wetting himself with fear. The Time Guardian looked at him curiously. Did he somehow know that Marcia was Beth? Did he figure it out before his friends? She knew he was clever from her visions and future history. She needed to watch him closely. She was silent waiting for them to make the first move.

"We know you have Beth. Where in here are you keeping her? Let her go!"

Beth could sense Severus giving her a glance. She shrugged to let him know that she didn't know how they knew. "We have no idea what you're talking about, Lupin. Marcia and I were here to find a book on how to avoid idiots, gits, and pricks. We've been running into them far too much for our liking."

"Stop trying to stall or avoid the subject, Snivellus. We have reason to believe that she's alive and in this very room." James raised his wand ready to strike.

Severus looked around. "You don't see her do you? Perhaps I should make Dumbledore aware that his Headboy, Prefect, and their dogs belong in the nuthouse?"

The rest of the Marauders raised their wands. Beth and Severus did the same. The Time Guardian's heart was beating quickly. It was one thing to duel Sirius, but how could she and Severus possibly duel Sirius as well as James, Remus, and Peter?

It was a long and heated duel. Beth was suddenly very glad for her training over the summer in dueling techniques. She and Severus worked together and eventually were able to draw the Marauders away from the door. They got a break when a spell seemingly out of nowhere knocked a tower of objects over onto James and Remus. They took their chance and bolted from the room.

Sirius and Peter were hot on their trail as soon as they left. As they ran down the corridors, Beth noticed Mrs. Norris. Filch couldn't be far behind. She heard footsteps close by as they turned a corner. Quickly, she pulled Severus behind a huge statue that could conceal both of them if they couched down.

"What do we have here, my sweet? Two students running in the corridors after hours, tut tut." Sirius and Peter stopped where they were. "Alright, what are you students doing running around the castle like that?"

"Nothing we were just going for a jog." Sirius moved in place to demonstrate.

"A likely story. Turn out your pockets!" They did as they were told. "I'll be taking these things. What's this for?" He held up the Marauders' Map.

_Oh please confiscate it, Filch,_ Beth thought.

"Nothing, sir, it's just a bit of parchment to write on."

Filch wasn't fooled. "I'll be taking this as well."

"But…" they protested.

"Follow me, you two."

Beth breathed a sigh of relief.

**  
The Time Guardian followed Severus silently to the Owlery. Once they were there, she was lost in her own thoughts as her partner ensured that their conversation wouldn't be heard. "Alright, spit it out!"

Beth was startled. "Spit what out, Severus?"

"Don't Severus me, how could they possibly know that you are alive? You must have told them. You've been scheming this whole time haven't you?"

"I didn't, I swear I didn't tell them! Did you listen to what they said? Somehow they figured out I was in the room. But they didn't know that I was Marcia. We don't even know if they know I'm alive for sure. Maybe they suspected something when Marcia was pretending to be me. That is why she died, isn't it?"

"Most likely it was because she was no longer needed, and they didn't want to take the chance that she would reveal their plans."

"That's a horrible thing to say, Severus."

"Horrible perhaps, but nonetheless true." He took out some parchment and quill writing a short note. Then he took out the Time Guardian book, muttered a charm to make it appear light, and tied it to his owl along with the note.

"No! You can't let Voldemort have it!" She tried to stop the owl, but it was too late. "I trusted you Severus. I need that book!"

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth, but this is for your own good. You must learn that Voldemort will not be crossed. Just be grateful that I didn't mention your treachery in the note. That would be a far worse punishment than losing a mere book." He left her sitting on the floor sobbing.

**  
Fortunately James and Remus did not lose consciousness when they were hit by the tower of objects falling on top of them. James stood and helped up his friend. "We need to go help Padfoot and Wormtail." He moved toward the entrance.

"Wait, Prongs. I'm sure they'll be fine. We should look for that book." Remus opened the trunk and began to go through its contents.

James kneeled down to help. "I know what we saw on the map, but do you really think Beth is alive or dead? Ghosts show up on the map, but when we got here, Beth was nowhere to be found. Snape and Griggs were here but Griggs wasn't on the map. It doesn't make any sense. The map couldn't possibly have a glitch."

The boy with glasses located _A Detailed History of the Most Powerful Witches and Wizards in the last Millennium_ and flipped to the marked page. "Here it is. 'It has been rumoured that Merlin was able to travel far and wide and perhaps even across time and space.' Maybe Beth could too. What do you think, Moony? Moony?" James looked up to find his friend holding an old book, his face quite pale.

"Prongs, this book is written in ancient runes. It says Book of the Time Guardians."

"Okay…so she was or is a Time Guardian. Wow, I wish we had found that sooner." He threw the other book back into the trunk.

"We couldn't have, James." He looked at him questioningly. "I've been through this trunk quite a few times looking for answers. Just recently I was here yesterday. This book must have been put here last night. Snape said they were looking for a book. What if this is the book they were looking for?"

"Well it's a good thing we stopped them. We should find Sirius and Peter to tell them the news." James stood but Remus remained where he was looking pensive.

James watched his friend looking paler as his thoughts progressed. "Care to share what you're thinking, Remus?"

"I think that neither Snape nor Griggs are holding Beth captive." James looked at him, puzzled. "I think Griggs is our friend Beth."

**  
Disappointed by losing the map, the four Marauders moped around for a few days. But they were filled with hope that their friend might actually be alive. Lily noticed their odd behavior first and said something to the other girls. They accosted them in the boys' dormitories where they could speak in private.

"We have a problem," James began.

"A Beth-sized problem," Sirius added.

The girls looked at them in confusion. Alice was the first to speak. "What are you four talking about?"

"Beth is alive, and she's here in the castle under the guise of someone else." Alice looked to the other girls for help.

"Remus, I know that Beth's death has affected you greatly. We had no idea how much. To hope that Beth is really alive is one thing but to try to convince your friends as well? Perhaps you should talk to someone about what you went through."

James ran a hand through his hair. "Lily, there's nothing wrong with Remus. Beth really is alive. We're not sure how yet; we're still trying to work out the all the pieces of the puzzle."

"How do you know? Where's your proof?" Dorcas asked

Sirius jumped in. "Well we, uh, had proof but it…we lost it." He shamefully admitted.

"All we have to do is question Marcia Griggs."

Morwenna furrowed her brow. "Griggs? The prefect in Slytherin?"

"Yes, we think that she is Beth in disguise."

Lily sighed. "I want Beth to be alive as well but your theory is so hard to believe. You really shouldn't confront her. It could be dangerous. I think that telling Dumbledore would be the best thing."

**  
Peter had gotten a note from Sirius to meet him an empty classroom on the fourth floor. The moment he entered the door behind him slammed shut and he was trapped. He quivered in fear. Marcia Griggs materialized before him.

Beth had seen in her visions how Peter had known that she was alive and yet he never said anything to her friends. She wanted to know why. She spoke softly. Why did you do it, Peter? You've known all this time that Beth was alive, but you remained silent. Why?"

"I-I was afraid. She was captured by Voldemort. If I told, perhaps my friends and I would have been hunted by Voldemort the same way she was."

_Huh, right, afraid you would be killed. Selfish rat._ "I see." She wanted so badly to harm him right now. "Goodbye, Peter. Enjoy your sorry little existence for the rest of your pathetic life." She raised her wand, and he cowered thinking she would kill him. Instead she opened the door and disappeared from view.

**  
After exams, Beth lamented having to go back to Voldemort. She had tried to come up with a way to escape but failed. She resigned herself to being in captivity doing Voldemort's bidding when she received a note summoning her to the Headmaster's office. She walked along the corridor hoping that he would give her a way out. She allowed Dia to join her. It was time they both knew the full truth.

They both stood in front of the Headmaster. The Book of Time Guardians sat in front of him on his desk. Beth wasn't surprised. Someone, perhaps one of her friends, had figured out the truth. She told both of them the whole story from beginning to end only leaving out details of the future and Peter's actions.

"That is quite a tale, Miss Spenser," he admitted, looking as though he was analyzing the story internally.

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore, it is. I'm sort of at an impasse because I need to get free of Voldemort without him knowing. I have to return to him after graduation."

"I'll do it. I'll go in your place, Beth. I can use Polyjuice potion to look like you. I'll escape."

Beth looked terrified at her cousin's suggestion. She knew that there was no escaping once you were there. She was horrified and touched at the same time that her cousin would be willing to die for her.

"That's not necessary, Miss Lyons. If I may, I think I have another suggestion that would be better suited for our needs."

**  
It was graduation day. Beth packed up her most valuable possessions including her family album, the Time Guardian book, her locket, and the figurine that Remus gave her.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in."

Severus entered the room. Beth stiffened. "I'm here to apologize for my outburst. It was very suspicious and seemed like you had told them. I was afraid of it blowing our cover."

"I understand. I understand you and your actions. You don't have to explain them to me. No matter what happens, I'll keep your secret." He raised his eyebrows. "I sent him a message that I would meet him. This is goodbye, Severus." He hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.

**  
Beth hid in the bushes near the place where she asked Voldemort to meet her a few days after graduation. Marcia stood out in the clearing waiting. Soon the Dark Lord apparated in front of her. "Well, I'm impressed that you showed up. You could have escaped, although I would have hunted you down until I found you again." He held up the fake Time Guardian book. "Time is a wasting. Let's get to the next part of your training."

"No, I won't be a part of this anymore." Marcia motioned for the book. "Give me my book back, or I will kill you. You'll have to either let me go with the book or kill me. I won't do your bidding."

"I do not want to kill you. Come with me and no one else will be hurt by your actions."

"Never!" Marcia screamed and shot a curse his way.

Voldemort easily blocked it. The duel began. Beth was amazed. Professor Dumbledore's plan was working. All he had to do was make him angry enough to kill Marcia…again.

_**"We'll need Marcia Griggs' body which I'll assume is in the grave marked under your name. We'll make it appear as though she is still alive. You'll use a voice charm to make it seem like she is speaking, although you'll be safely hidden in the bushes. I will make it appear as though she is really moving and duel with Voldemort. Marcia will refuse to join him and duel him long enough to make him angry. The hope is that he will change his mind and 'kill' Marcia."**_

_** "That might be crazy enough to work Professor," Dia jumped in.**_

"Avada Kedavra!" Marcia crumpled to the ground. Aurors began showing up. Voldemort apparated away.

"No!" Remus shouted and appeared from the bushes 50 feet away from Beth.

James, Sirius, Peter, Lily, Alice, Dorcas and Morwenna also emerged from the greenery. Dumbledore made it appear like he was apparating to the area for the first time.

Remus rushed over to Marcia's body and held it in his arms. The Headmaster joined him. "I'm so sorry." He put a hand on his shoulder.

"Professor Dumbledore, is there a way to reverse the Polyjuice potion effects sooner?"

He nodded and pointed his wand at Marcia's body, taking off the charm he had put on it. Remus held a decaying body. "Ah!" he shouted and let go moving away.

"Sir, what does this mean?" James scratched his head in confusion.

"I think it means that either Elizabeth is truly dead, or she's safe and doesn't want to be found. Either way, I suggest you remember her fondly and move on."

James and Sirius helped Remus off the ground. He was in no position to apparate. They walked off in the direction of Hogsmeade. The girls followed. The Aurors apparated away with Marcia's body.

_Goodbye, Sirius, Lily, James, Dorcas, Alice, and Morwenna. I wish I could say goodbye to you properly. I love you all. I won't forget you. _Beth arose from the bushes after everyone had left and joined Dumbledore. "A word of advice if I may, Elizabeth?" She nodded. "I know that it is within your nature to love deeply. But you must remember that your responsibility as a Time Guardian comes first. I know that you want to be with your friends, but I would urge you not to do so. It seems you are now on different paths in life."

"I understand. Goodbye, Professor Dumbledore." She shook his hand.

"Please, you have graduated now. Call me Albus."

Beth gave him a big hug. "Farewell, Albus." They both apparated away, they too now on different paths.

**  
The Time Guardian understood Albus' concerns that she shouldn't contact her old friends, but she had time on her side. She watched from an invisible state as Remus' parents left the house with their suitcases. She waited for a while and then whispered his name until he came outside looking for the source of the voice calling him. Licker was right behind him. She made herself visible.

"Beth?" Remus looked at her with questions in his eyes.

She nodded moving closer to him. She wanted to throw her arms around him, but she waited for him to make the first move. He stepped forward as well and held his arms out. They embraced in a tight hug. Licker sniffed Beth's legs and jumped up excitedly wagging his tail. "What happened, Beth?"

Beth knelt down, patted Licker on the head, and stood back up, shaking her head. "Let's just enjoy the moments we have left." She ran her hand through his hair.

"What do you mean? You're leaving again? Beth, please don't leave me. I know I don't have much to give you but we can survive together. I don't think I can live without you any longer. I love you, Elizabeth Hope Spenser." It made her so happy and yet broke her heart to hear him say those words directly to her.

"I love you too, Remus John Lupin." Beth pointed her wand and made them float in the air just like on that Valentine's Day in the Room of Requirement. This time their backdrop was the gorgeous orange, red, and purple sunset. She couldn't make it any more perfect than this. Licker barked underneath them.

Remus took her head in his hands and kissed her softly. She put her free arm around him and moved in to deepen the kiss. Everything was perfect for one night.

One night turned into one weekend. Beth leaned against the dresser watching Remus sleep. She was packing her things when he rolled over and saw her. "What are you doing up so early?" he teased and moved to pull her back in bed. The look on her face told him everything. "You're really leaving Beth?" He rose and put his arms around her. "Please stay with me." Tears fell down both their cheeks. She knew he wanted her to say she would stay.

Beth sat down on the bed with Remus. She took his head in her hands and wiped his tears away. He gazed into her eyes. She pulled him close, her lips on his.

_I'm sorry, Remus, but this is the only way you can remember me. _She wiped his memory, making the whole weekend seem like a dream to him. She started from the time he told her he loved her and ended with him going to sleep. She sent Sirius, James, Lily, Alice, Dorcas, and Morwenna a message of love and thanks through the dream that she knew Remus would share with them when he awoke. Then she knocked him unconscious and laid him back in bed, pulling the covers up to his neck. She kissed him one last time and made herself invisible. She moved downstairs to the kitchen and gave Licker a belly rub as a goodbye. She left the house and turned back one last time. _Goodbye, Remus. I'll love you forever._

Goodbye Kiss To You

His stomach falls and rises like the sun,

As he sleeps under the sheets,

Soft hair covering his cheeks.

His face dons a smile

As he dreams of things unknown.

She watches the sleeping fellow

As she packs her life away

She has to leave in the morning

She knows he won't be happy

But there's nothing she can do.

How do I tell you that you're my one and only?

How can I say I'll love you forever?

Perhaps in my goodbye kiss to you...

He wakes up and rolls over watching her,

Asks her what she's doing up early.

Seeing his face she just can't lie.

He jumps out of bed when she tells him,

Crosses the room to hold onto her.

Soon it's time to leave,

But he won't let her go.

Tears fall down their cheeks.

He keeps shaking his head,

Waiting for her to say she'll stay.

How do I tell you that you're my one and only?

How can I say I'll love you forever?

Perhaps in my goodbye kiss to you...

She sits with him on the bed,

Takes his head in her hands.

She wipes his tears away.

He looks into her eyes.

She pulls close, her lips on his.

How do I tell you that you're my one and only?

How can I say I'll love you forever?

Perhaps in my goodbye kiss to you...

How do I tell you that you're my one and only?

How can I say I'll love you forever?

Perhaps in my goodbye kiss to you...

A/N: Thank you all for reading! A special thank you goes out to those who have been reading along the whole time. If you haven't realized the above song is the one that Remus and Beth danced to at the Merlin's Beard concert. I struggled with whether I should be true to canon or give Remus and Beth a happy ending. I had to settle for the middle in order to feel complete closure for myself. After all that's why I felt compelled to finish this story 8 years after I started it. Take care, everyone! Please read and review!


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